Beginnings and Endings
by Ulitheal
Summary: REVAMPED! This is an Aeris resurrection fic. The title of the story has alot to do with the storyline. The story is focused mainly on Tifa. Many new enemies and monsters. Clerith but eventually CloTi
1. Coming Back

Yet again I am re-vamping my story. Hopefully for those of you who are already familiar with my story and have read it at an earlier time will like this new chapter. As always I am sorry for how long it is actually taking me to write and finish this story. I know how the story is going to end, but getting it all down is proving to be very difficult. I'm striving to actually type all of it now so maybe there is an end in sight. Either way, those of you new to the story, enjoy. Please ignore the discrepancies in writing in style between these chapters as I myself am quite different from when I first wrote this story. I will continue to update all of the chapters and re-uploading them and hopefully finish the story someday. Either way without further adieu, on to the story.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me and I make no claim to any of it. Just a poor soul writing for this for the joy of it.

Chapter (1)

The impact of meteor caused the whole planet to shake. It looked like the Armageddon, the planet looked as though it was about to become a fiery explosion of rock and space.

"We aren't going to make it," a black man with a gun-arm shouts as the whole sky lights up, then nothing.

Two days later people from all over the world start their life anew, the shock from meteor was over. Now it was time to rebuild homes, shops, lives, and to smile. The world was saved by one group of people, now known all over the world as the saviors of the planet. Cid, a retired pilot hoping to go to outer space and return home. Vincent, used-to-be Turk with a dark past but brighter future. Yuffie, a materia thief/ninja whose only joy was to explore and steal. Red XIII also known as Nanaki, last of his race, protector of Cosmo Canyon. Cait Sith, a stuffed animal that was actually Reeve of Shinra. Barret, leader of the team AVALANCHE determined to save the world from Shinra. Tifa, a woman who lost everything due to Shinra and team member of AVALANCHE. Last, but definitely not least Cloud Strife, former SOLDIER First-Class and the man who led this great group.

"Damn it, Cloud did you even hear what I said? I know it's hard to understand stuff through that spikey head, but I repeated myself four times!" Barret yells in frustration at Cloud.

"Calm down, Barret before you give yourself a heart attack I heard everything you shouted. I'll hand you the hammer and go get the boards," Cloud says then saunters off.

"Fuck, wait until I get my hands on that little shit" Barret fumes.

"Hey, Tifa is this enough for right now?" Cloud shouts to the dark-haired woman sitting on the roof as he comes back carrying a load of lumber.

The dark-haired woman with wine red eyes looks down at him before surveying the roof top as she debates whether or not the lumber he carried was enough to finish the job or not.

"Umm, yeah Cloud just put it right there."

One Week Later

Cid, Yuffie, Cloud, Vincent, Red XIII, Cait Sith, and Barret are standing in front of the newer and rebuilt Tifa's 7th Heaven. Gone were the raggedy shutters and rotten wood, it now looked a more chic place. The new 7th Heaven was still Midgar, but no longer was it buried in the wreckage that was the Slums. It was now placed closer to the main Shinra building just a little ways into Sector 4 in one of the few areas that was not affected greatly by the impact of meteor. While the group stands on the outside, admiring their hard work and the place they built. Tifa is inside setting her bar up for the start for one heck of a party. She looks around at the new walls, tables, chairs, even the jukebox sitting in the corner thanks to a contribution from Cait Sith. Everything was set; now all that was left was to get all the participants. Tifa steps out the front door and shouts at the waiting group.

"Okay, everyone come on in and let's PARTY!"

All of them, except Cloud, rush in so they could drink free beer, take some shots, and eat all they could want. For most of them it was a welcome relief to finally be able to relax after all the experiences they had been through, mainly fighting Sephiroth and the Weapons to protect their world.

"Hey Cid, how much you wanna bet I could out drink you and Vincent?" Yuffie asks Cid getting ready to challenge to her thoughts the 'old farts.'

"Hah! Are you sure you're old enough to drink? I mean we wouldn't want you to become sick," Cid huffs in retort.

"Very well, I take your challenge Yuffie. Let us begin," Vincent calmly tells Yuffie who just smirks at him considering herself to already be the winner.

While the party was only just getting started, Cloud stands out front watching all of his friends through the window have fun. How could he be in there enjoying himself when all of his thoughts were a dark mish-mash of guilt, anger, and regret? What use was there in celebrating when the person who made all of this possible, was dead and gone?

_God Aeris, why did you have to die? I can still hear your laughter and your voice. I can still picture every little detail about you…_

He becomes lost in memory of the first time he saw the flower girl or maybe not the first time seeing her, but the first conversation he had ever had with her.

"Hey can you help me? You said you could do anything. How about you be my bodyguard?"

"Well it'll cost you something because I don't just work for free, what will you pay?"

"Umm, how about one date? Will that do?"

"A date, sure I guess, when do I start?"

"Right now."

"Cloud..."

"Cloud..."

"…CLOUD," a voice brings him back to reality and he turns around to confront the one who interrupted his happier memories.

"Oh hey Tifa, what are you doing out here? Isn't the party still going?" Cloud asks not being able to keep the frustration at her interruption from his voice. He feels bad for a moment when the dark-haired woman's eyes darken with sadness at his abrupt tone with her.

"Yeah it's still going Yuffie, Vincent, and Cid are having a contest on who can drink the most and the rest are just watching and eating. But I was wondering where you were out so I came out to find you," she pauses for a moment before rushing on.

"Are you thinking about her?"

"No, but thanks Teef, I'm alright. I'll come in, in a little bit if you don't mind."

She stares at him for a moment, before nodding slightly and heading back to where the rest of their friends were. She knew that he wasn't going to give her an honest answer and as much as she wished she could help him and wanted to, that in the end he just didn't want her help.

_He was lying I know it. He thinks about her...Aeris, all of the time, he even dreams about her. He doesn't know I know that, but I can hear him at night talking about her or to her. He...he lo-loves her and I just can't compete with that. _

A tear slides down her face at her own thoughts. She could hear the music and even above that the laughter coming from the bar. It was time to put on a happy face, it was what everyone expected of her anyway. A quick brush of her hand wipes the tear away, a pasted on grin is fixed and she marches into her bar to have a good time with the remainder of her friends.

During the night, in a dream

Yet again, he is staring out over the city of the ancients. The fallen spires and the broken buildings only made the city seem tranquil. As always he ends up staring across the pond where he laid a fallen angel to rest. As he stared across the pond brooding, two slim hands reach out and cover his eyes.

"Hey Cloud!"

"A-Aeris? What are you doing here?"

"Well visiting you of course, I have something to tell you."

"Visiting me, wait you have something to tell me."

"Yep, got some good news to tell you," the pig tailed woman smiles at him, delight dancing through her eyes.

"Well, what is it?"

"Silly Cloud, you got to guess it!"

"Aeris…" his eyes darken. She stares at him for a moment longer before deciding to just tell him, seeing the anguish on his face because of her, she wanted to make the anguish just go away.

"You can bring me back, Cloud. Back to life, that is."

His face shows his disbelief at her words and she rushes on before he could say anything.

"It is possible and I even know how you can do it. Just bring my body from its resting place, the Lifestream has kept it preserved, and place me in the spot where Sephiroth killed me. Make sure I have Holy with my body as well," she finishes with a smile watching his face expectantly.

"How is this possible…" his voice trails off as he lunges forward hugging her to him.

"I'm out on good probation," she replies her voice muffled against his chest.

"Good probation, is there a time limit?"

"No and me calling on Holy and saving the planet with the help from the Lifestream is what is letting this happen, great isn't it? "

"This is a dream, isn't it? Just a dream that I'm going to wake up from and know this isn't real."

"No, Cloud, this is real. Yeah, you are dreaming right now, but all of this is real. I'm real and so are you, here while you sleep is the only way to reach you. Now, get some sleep, some real sleep and don't forget to tell the others all of this. I can't wait to see all of you."

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to hope.

He smiled down at the woman and slowly closed his eyes to get some real sleep. It never hurt to double-check on things anyhow and if it actually meant having Aeris back, then…

"What the hell you mean it's possible for Aeris to come back? You ain't joking are you, Spikey? When we gonna go get her?"

Cloud broke the news as soon as he woke up to everyone from the party the night prior. Some time throughout the night Vincent had taken off so he wasn't there to hear the news, but everyone else was in various states of shock and happiness. Tifa stood behind her bar watching Cloud as he explained all the details that Aeris had passed to him through his dream. She didn't know what to think except that her chances of being with Cloud as anything but a friend were diminishing as everyone talked about Aeris. She was going to lose him to a dead woman; no that was wrong she had already lost him, but why was no one thinking about the flip side of the coin for all of this. What if this wasn't even really Aeris?

"Guys," no one was listening to her.

"Guys," she repeated louder this time. "I'm really happy that we may be able to bring Aeris back, but think for just a moment, what if this isn't really Aeris and it's all just a trick?"

Silence rang throughout the room at her words. Cloud looked stunned for a moment and she watched a thousand emotions run across his face before he finally settled on anger. She took a breath, she hadn't seen him show this much emotion in a long time.

"This is Aeris we are talking about, do you honestly think I wouldn't recognize Aeris? Aeris who I failed…" his voice trailed off for a moment, mako blue eyes lost in memories for a moment before they snapped back on to her. Her voice was long gone, all she could do was hold herself up and stay strong as his words cut through her.

"Aeris died to save all of us, don't you think that given what she did for us we shouldn't take any chance available to actually bring her back? Also if it is someone else, say Sephiroth for example, that all of us couldn't take him?" His voice rose with every word, each word driven like a stake through her heart as she could see the betrayal in his eyes, betrayal because of her. The rest of the group remained silent watching as Cloud ripped Tifa apart with his words.

"Why wouldn't you want to take this chance Tifa? Why?" The volume of his voice dropped. He didn't want to think of the alternative, if it all was an elaborate trick at the hands of Sephiroth instead of a second chance with Aeris. They had barely beat Sephiroth last time and that was only with everyone helping and Aeris using the Lifestream and Holy to help them as well. All eyes were glued on them, Tifa for bringing up the one thing that could ruin all of this, and Cloud with his burning hope of bringing Aeris back to life. They all knew that Tifa cared about Aeris, but she loved Cloud.

"I'm not going. Not until we can get some more information on this, Cloud. I want Aeris back too, but this is just too big."

"Fine, stay here and when it really is Aeris you can explain to her why you didn't want to come to bring her back. I'm going to go and get her though," with that said he turns on his heel and walks out the door.

Tears slowly began to trek down her face and she sits heavily on the bar stool beside her staring at the door and the remainder of her friends. Yuffie stares at her chewing on her bottom lip as she debates between following Cloud or staying, Barrett shuffles his feet indecision clearly written on his face, Red XIII sits on the floor tail swishing, while Cid leans against his spear, and Cait Sith slips out the door without looking at any of them.

"Well the quickest way to find out anything is to get up there fast and the fastest thing is my ship, so I'm gonna follow Cloud," Cid exhales a cloud of smoke and walks out the door. Barret shakes his head and looks at her, Tifa slowly nods to him, and he follows Cid. Yuffie and Red XIII soon follow leaving her alone in the bar with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company.

_I do want her back, I really do. Even if it means losing Cloud, but we made so many enemies and Sephiroth and Jenova are just so powerful that it could be them using the one thing that would hurt Cloud the most. Aeris. If it really is Aeris though, I guess I can never tell him that I love him._

"What am I going to do?"

The door of the bar swings open and she looks up, wondering who of her friends it could actually be. Her eyes travel from the expensive shoes, over the dark blue suit, to lock eyes with none other than Reeve.

"Hey, can we talk?"

"About what, Reeve, and why aren't you with the others?"

"What I want to talk about is your suspicion with all of this and truly I'm just not that gullible. I hope it really is Aeris, but we did make some powerful enemies and all of that requires some thinking."

"My suspicion," she scoffs, "my suspicion is more me just have a bad feeling for some reason on the situation."

Her eyes shimmer and she blinks rapidly to stop tears from falling.

_What if this is just me being jealous?_

Reeve looked at her for a moment and then glances around the bar, it had already been a couple of hours since the others took off, and the bar was cleared of all signs of the party from the night prior. On the counter there was a bottle of scotch and a glass beside it filled to the brim with the dark liquid.

"So what do you think, Reeve? Am I just being jealous or do you think that they should have thought some more before taking off? I don't even know myself if I really wanted them to stop and think longer on it."

He mulls over words in his heads on how to best phrase his answer, as Tifa waited for his answer she moved around behind the bar counter and pulled out another glass to pour him a drink.

"I think that finding out if it's possible for Aeris to come back to life and moving on from there ought to be the first step all of us should have taken vice running off and messing with her body."

"How are we supposed to even find out if it's possible and what is your plan if it really isn't Aeris?"

"Well I propose, first of all we visit Cosmo Canyon and then decide the rest from there. Bugenhagen has a lot of knowledge stored in that old body of his and he may be able to point us in a good direction."

She slowly shakes her head at him.

"What?"

"Why didn't you go with them Reeve, and I want your honest answer now. Yeah, I believe what you just told me is part of the reason, but not your main one."

He tilts his head to the side and stares at her. He hadn't let anything slip or said anything that could make her think he had another reason, yet she was convinced he had one. He smiles softly to himself, perhaps Tifa could see more than most people thought. Also if he wanted Tifa to actually trust him, perhaps he ought to be completely honest with her. Decision made he began to tell her.

"…so you think you're in love with Aeris? I mean when did you even come to this conclusion?"

Reeve debates on how to answer; it was quite difficult to just talk about his emotions or feelings, especially for someone as secretive as him.

"I think I fell in love with her when I first saw her. We were given orders to capture her from President Shinra and she was such a free spirit. There was just something about her that I could lose myself in if I wasn't careful."

"…"

"Either way, I knew for sure when I saw her again at Gold Saucer, unfortunately I was a stuffed animal and she was already half-way in love with Cloud and he with her."

He watched the anguish ripple across her face at his words and he felt pity for her. The look on her face was heartbreaking and one he understood quite well. Unrequited love was a hard thing to deal with especially when even death had no effect in the matter. At least for him, it was the one he loved who had passed on. For Tifa on the other hand, the one she loved chased after the figment of a dead woman and wouldn't move on from it, could see nothing else but the past. A woman whose fist could decimate monsters with a single blow and who had helped save the world, couldn't fight memories of a dead woman whom she had cared for herself.

"I always have been in love with Cloud and I thought when I saw him again it was my second chance. I always thought he would realize that I loved him and maybe he would return it. Then all of this happened and I realized that he was falling in love with Aeris, but then Sephiroth…" her voice trails off. She blinks her eyes as she remembers that horrible day in the ancient city, watching Cloud raise the Buster Sword over his head while Aeris kneeled in prayer before him. Barrett and her voice shouting out for him to stop, the look of relief that passes over Clouds face as their combined voices break through whatever fog Sephiroth had enspelled him with. Then the shock that they all receive as Sephiroth falls from above, Masamune sliding through Aeris and the desperate battle with the piece of Jenova right after Aeris' death. All of them standing around the Crystal Lake tears staining her face as Cloud let the woman's body drift to the bottom of the lake floor. His mako blue eyes dry, but holding so much recrimination and anger in them.

"After we finally defeated Sephiroth and stopped Meteor I noticed that Cloud never seemed to move on, he was always grieving or blaming himself. I wanted to help him and I tried but he was always holding back. Sometimes at night, I would stand outside his door and hear him talking to her in his dreams or talking about her. It hurt."

Reeve suddenly realized how much there was to this warrior woman that he didn't know and how strong and fragile she truly was. The happy smile she always had on was a mask to hide her true self, her true feelings. In all actuality she was scared to death for the man she loved, and she was in pain because she who has been by Cloud's side nearly all her life was beaten in the game of love by a woman he just met. He sighed; this whole thing was going to be harder than he originally planned on.

"Well, we both know that we need to find out if it's possible for it to truly be Aeris and I know you're not going to like this but I have also enlisted the aid of the Reno and the others."

Her wine red eyes flash in anger and she opened her mouth to retort.

"Don't you see it Tifa, we are going to need help if this isn't Aeris and it is Sephiroth and Jenova. We can't take them on just the two of us. Also there will be no guarantee that Cloud and the others will be in any condition to help. We need the Turks," he interrupts her before she could even begin to speak. She closes her mouth and thinks about what he had told her.

"How do you know the Turks will help us and what's to stop them from helping the other side? I mean they don't exactly hold Cloud and all of us in the highest regard."

He chuckles a bit at how she kept referring to the Turks as someone else when he himself was a Turk.

"Tifa, just to remind you I am a Turk too. Also to answer your question, I am the president that they work for and I am the reason they have a job. So they are not going to join the 'other side' as you put it, everything that happened in the past between you and them was because they were doing the job they were ordered to do. Overall they don't have an issue with any of you."

He winces slightly as he remembers his conversation with the other Turks earlier that day.

"What the hell you mean you want us to work with that bunch of do gooder asses?"

Reno's voice splits the air as he rants on about all of Cloud's deficiencies, Reeve tunes him out as he makes eye contact with Rude and Elena, somewhere in the back of his mind he wonders why Reno is talking about Cloud's penis size and how could he know it was small, before deciding that everything being shouted had no value to retain or listen to. Rude and Elena were the ones he had to convince to help, he could just order all of them but overall that would be detrimental to them actually helping because they would just do the bare minimum. Reno was currently bad-mouthing Barrett.

"This is something bigger than just helping Cloud and all of them. For all I know at this point time it could be Sephiroth himself trying to come back."

Elena's hands curl up into fists, he figured she was remember Tseng, Reno was shouting something about Vincent being a vampire and going to eat them. Rude was still focused on him.

"Tifa, will end up doing this all alone if we don't help," Reeve added softly for Rude's benefit.

"We'll do it," Elena said after a slight nod from Rude. He sighed internally glad that he had their support on it. Reno had finally quit insulting everyone, although Reeve noted that he had insulted everyone in AVALANCHE or even associated to Cloud with the notable exception of Tifa probably to save himself from Rude's wrath.

Tifa stares at him a little longer before nodding her consent to his plan with a sigh, working with the Turks just what she wanted to do.

"When do we start?"

"Now."

Things were going to get even harder for the two of them, although neither one of them was sure what would be harder. Finding out that it really was Aeris who was coming back to them or finding out that it wasn't.


	2. Back To Life

AN: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters or anything to do with it.

It had been a two week journey to get to the city of Ancients and now finally they were approaching the city. First they had to go by chocobos to reach the Highwind and that took about a week and then from the Highwind to the forest outside the City of the Ancients. From the forest they had to travel by foot the rest of the way. After several days of travel through the forest they were finally there. The city loomed as they grew closer to it, and to Aeris. Instead of the tranquil serenity that usually came to them upon seeing the city they were all anticipating the return of the Last Ancient. Everyone was going as fast as possible to get to Aeris and bring her back to life. Past the broken coral houses and up the shell paths they were reaching the area where they had laid Aeris to rest.

The anticipation was too much and Cloud breaks out in a run to see her, Aeris the last Ancient. As he runs to the lake in there he dives in to retrieve Aeris's body from the bottom of the lake floor using the Underwater Materia. By now almost everyone else is down waiting in the crystal city. Cloud walks down the crystal steps carrying Aeris's body bridal style. All of them are quiet, fingers are crossed and everyone is praying that a miracle would happen. He walks up the crystal pillar steps to the last area where all of them had seen the pig-tailed woman alive. For some, memories flash back to her kneeling on the dais, eyes closed, praying to Holy. For Cloud, he hopes that his dreams were true. Maybe then it would be a start of him paying back the debt he owed to Aeris. He had a lot to pay her back for and bringing her back would only start to take away from the fact that he almost killed her himself and that he allowed Sephiroth to kill her. Slowly he kneels and lays her body to rest in the area that she was killed on. A bright flash of light fills the area.

"OH CLOUD, you really did bring me back!!!"

A pig-tailed girl flings herself into the tall blonde haired mans arms telling him how much she missed him. Suddenly she moves back from him, blushing at the others who are all wearing big grins on their face. Smiling Aeris brushes herself off and goes to stand beside Cloud.

"Hey Cloud, so I do get to be best man, don't I?" Barret asks happily. Cloud just ducks his head at the question.

"Umm guys, can I please talk to Cloud, alone for a couple minutes?" Aeris asks in the silence after Barret's question. Everyone just smiles and they walk a short distance away to allow the two of them to talk. Still talking excitedly amongst themselves about the return of Aeris.

"How have you been doing, Cloud? I've missed you so much and now that I'm back we can do all of the things we wanted to do. All the things that Sephiroth cut short, that I thought we would never be able to do" Aeris finishes it all with a slight blush then gently leans forward to lightly kiss Cloud on the cheek.

"Aeris....."

Thats all Cloud says as he pulls her into a gentle hug, not quite sure what to say and yet at the same time knowing he didn't have to say anything. Aeris was back and for the moment that was enough for him. He held her close to him and just listened to her breath, something inside of him calming at the feel of her beating heart.

_I've missed you so much too, but I don't know how to say it to you so this has to be enough, I hope. Tifa, your wrong this is Aeris, it couldn't be anyone else. _

-----

"Hey guys, where is Tifa and Cait Sith? Why aren't they along with you? Did something happen to them?" Aeris asked, a slight befuddled look on her face at not seeing the two.

There was complete silence, a few coughs, and the occasional mumble in response to her question. No one was quite sure how to explain to Aeris that Tifa didn't come along to her revival because she didn't believe it was Aeris coming back. As for Cait Sith, he had left in the middle of the night after everyone has passed out and hadn't been informed about her coming and Vincent came into the group after Aeris had already been killed.

"Guys, where are they?" Aeris asks again in a more forceful tone then before.

"Uh, well Aeris, Tifa didn't come along because she didn't think it would be you and she doesn't trust you," Cloud begins to explain, but doesn't finish seeing the crestfallen look on Aeris' face.

"I'm sure Tifa will believe in you when we get back to Midgar Aeris, and Cait Sith didn't even know you were coming. It will be ok," Cloud tries to cheer her up.

"She didn't believe it would be me....."

"Aeris don't blame yourself."

"It isn't your fault."

"Tifa was just jealous of you."

At that statement everyone quiets down and furtive looks are shot Clouds way.

"Tifa was jealous of me, why?"

Panic appears on Cloud's face. He didn't mean to say that Tifa was jealous of her. He was still wondering why the dark-haired woman didn't believe himself. To try to explain more so would only embarrass himself further. He wasn't trying to implicate that he loved Aeris and Tifa may have been jealous of the attention he was giving to her. It wasn't like Tifa loved him or anything while with Aeris it was a possibility. He felt something for Aeris and trying to define it only left him confused. Shrugging his shoulders, he only shook his head.

"Uh, do we have to talk about this right now? How about we get back to Midgar first and then we talk."

Everyone consents and they resume walking back towards the Highwind. Nanaki paced at the front of the group, Barret led, Cid ambled along, with Cloud and Aeris taking up the rear. There was enough space between all of them that Aeris and Cloud could talk softly to each other. Walking beside each other, their hands would brush against each other with every step that they took.

"Cloud….."

"Yes…."

"Thank you so much for believing in me and coming to do this. I mean I'm grateful to all of you, but thank you."

"It's ok, you're welcome."

Aeris smiled up at him and instead of just letting their hands brush, she reaches out and grabs a hold of his hand. A shock runs through his body at her touch, but he doesn't let go of her hand, only gently squeezes her hand. They make the rest of way through the forest holding hands.

AN: Ok it is still a short chapter, but I want to do the stuff in segments and I just can't quite make this any longer without screwing up how I want things to go further long.


	3. New places

AN: OK, the story will mostly remain in Tifa and Cloud's perspective, but that will change randomly throughout the story. Again Final Fantasy 7 does not belong to me nor do any of its characters.

: Back in Midgar; 3 Days Later:

A group of people lounging in various spots throughout the room, debating back and forth on what to do and how they will do it. A woman with short blonde hair dressed in a black suit sits on a lounge chair beside a pool table, while a man with a long red pony tail dressed in yet another black suit sits on the pool table itself. Sitting on a stool at the bar a tall, bald gentlemen in a dark grey suit swirls dark amber liquid around in a crystal glass before drinking it. Behind the bar, a dark haired woman with red eyes stares at all the others, clearly not happy about the other threes presence, while a long haired man tries to keep the peace.

"Okay, how do we help the spikey-haired freak, if he doesn't even believe his best friend," the man with the pony tails asks as sarcastically as possible to bait the woman behind the bar. The sound of the woman grinding her teeth, tells him that that he is succeeding in pissing her off. Taking a deep breath before she can start to yell, the long haired man cuts her off.

"Simple, we try to find evidence."

"Oh, and you think it will be that easy?"

"No, but we must try."

"Fine, you're the one paying."

"So what do you want us to do?" The blonde woman cuts in before the man resting on the pool table beside her could say anymore. The bald man merely sits at the bar listening to all that is being said, nodding occasionally at a word or two.

"Elena, I want you to find anything that might indicate Sephiroth or Jenova or anything that could be construed as evil like those two," the long haired man tells her.

"Wait, wait, why do you mention Sephiroth and Jenova? The spikey-haired freak killed them," the man at the pool table begins as he hopped down off it. The woman behind the counter cracks her knuckles and glares at him.

"Because we don't know what else could bring Aeris back other than those two," Reeve states aloud.

"Fine, fine we will begin checking around with everything to do with those two and go from there," Elena states as she motions for a close of the meeting. Rude grabs the back of Reno's jacket and begins to tug him towards the entrance, his glass empty sitting on the bar.

"By the way if you get any information contact me as soon as possible."

"...."

"Fine. Later."

Tifa watches them walk away and comes over out from behind the bar counter to sit in the chair that Elena had just vacated. She didn't like the fact that they were getting help from the Turks, too many bad run-ins with them.

"Is there anything else we can do? I can't just sit here and wait for them to send us any information," Tifa mutters as she stares at the door. Reeve looks over and watches her fidget in her seat as she looks around her bar.

"Yes, you and Cait Sith could visit the Lifestream in Mideel as well as a few other places. Also we should go visit Cosmo Canyon and talk to Bugenhagen to see if he knows anything." He sighs as Tifa stands up and begins to walk towards the door, he had a feeling this was going to be a long and aggravating time.

-----

Riding on the back of a chocobo was somewhat difficult for a giant stuffed animal, Tifa muses as she watches Cait Sith struggle to remain seated on the back of his chocobo. He wanted to fly to Cosmo Canyon, but she refused thinking it would be better to ride to there. She was beginning to regret that decision because every 10 to 15 minutes she would have to stop and wait for Cait Sith to catch up to her, as he fell off the chocobo that often.

They had been traveling for the past two days on their gold chocobos and now they were only a day or so away from Cosmo Canyon. So far they hadn't fought any truly strong monsters and they were hoping it would remain that way too. Unfortunately for them, things never quite work out the way you want them to.

"Kwee," Tifa's chocobo says and then suddenly it rears up and flings her from its back and begins to run away. Hearing a thump behind her that tells her Cait Sith was thrown off too. She stands up and sighs to herself. They were going to have to catch those chocobos and make up for the time lost in searching for them. A rumble alerts her that the chocobos didn't just take off for the hell of it. Pulling on her gloves she prepares herself for a fight. Cait Sith comes up to stand beside her and they hear the monster coming their way through the forest.

The monster was a tan color and it had two heads. One of the heads was shaped like a dragon while the other was shaped like a wolf. Drool dripped from the two heads mouth and where each drop fell there was a slight sizzling sound and a burnt spot on the ground. It had a pair of gigantic wings on its back and a large tail. The body was shaped like a dinosaur, but its arms and hands looked more human than anything only ending with long sharp claws. It was like nothing they had ever seen before.

"What is that thing? I've never seen anything like it before," Tifa whispers to Cait Sith.

They both stare at it as it approaches them, as soon as it catches sight of them though the fight begins. It attacked so fast there was no time for him to answer her much less anything else. As soon as the first attack hit them they realize very quickly that this fight could very well be their last. The creature was so strong that mostly they could only defend and heal and even then it wasn't working very well.

"I don't.....know....how long....we....can do this," Cait Sith gasps out as the creature pulled back for a small break in the fight. He quickly casts another protect spell on Tifa and himself during the pause. The dragon head shoots a glob of poison at them and both of them leap to the side to avoid the attack. The burns on their skin already proved that their protect and shell spells didn't work against the monster. Tifa just nods back, too tired to respond.

"Wall," she says in a whisper as the creature comes back again. The monster swings its tail and smashes right through the wall that she cast.

_I'm sorry Cloud I never told you I love you,_ Tifa thinks as she passes out into what was probably going to be her death. Cait Sith watches in horror as its tail sped toward them and breaks through the Wall Tifa cast then struck her with a horrifying crunch that sent her flying. It was coming toward him next and even though it couldn't kill him, Reeve, he may have just watched Tifa be killed and there was nothing he could do. It struck Cait Sith and then the screen went totally blank where just moments earlier he could see.

-----

There were slight murmurs going on in her head, even the slight whispers were causing her aching head to throb. _Am I dead_, she thinks as she begins completely wake up.

"No you're not dead, merely injured greatly," a voice next to her says. Not realizing she spoke aloud she begins to sit up. Looking next to her she gasps aloud in surprise and then winces from the pain. On four paws next to her was a creature that looked just like Red XIII only a darker red.

"Who are you? And where am I?"

"I am Kotara and you are in the village of my people. Who are you?"

"My name is Tifa and where is my companion?"

She says in a rush, as she looks around and realizes Cait Sith wasn't in there. "Your companion is in another hut," Kotara tells her seeing the alarm that Tifa began to feel. Tifa just stares at her then nods and lies back down because it really hurt to sit up and stay sitting up.

"I didn't know there was any more of your kind left."

"What do you mean by saying 'anymore of my kind,' does this mean you have seen others?"

"Yes, he thinks he's the last of your kind left. His name is Nanaki from Cosmo Canyon."

"Cosmo Canyon?!? That's near here; I must report this to the elders. If you need anything merely shout and someone will come," saying that Kotara walks out.

Watching her leave Tifa stares up at the roof. Red XIII isn't alone anymore he has a people that he never even knew about. I can't wait to tell him, she thinks then yawns as she begins to drift back to sleep having exhausted herself.

-----

Cait Sith stares at the hut where currently Tifa was resting in, they had been in the village for five days already. He sighed to himself, he still had to fix parts on himself that had been damaged during the battle with the monster. His interface with the computer back at Shinra had been damaged in the battle and he was still attempting to fix it. They were truly lucky that Kotara's village had been so close or Tifa would probably have died and him turned into scrap metal. He scratched the back of his head as his thoughts wandered back to the battle.

Tifa had only just been hit with the monsters tail and she had hit the nearby tree with a sickening crunch. There were blood stains on the tree that she was slammed into and no sign of movement or life coming from that direction.

"Shit."

Now the monster was coming at him, all his attacks were barely stopping the monster and the materia wasn't even phasing it. He held the level 3 thunder orb and sent a bolt of lightning flying at the monster, the monster only shook off the lightning and sent a stream of fire and poison his way. He dodged it, but how much longer would he be able to do so. His little stuffed animal body wouldn't be able to keep up with the abuse for much longer. Movement over his head, and he leapt back just as the tail that took out Tifa came smashing down on the spot he had just been standing in.

"Well, I guess this is it. What a way to go," he mutters to Reeve as the back of his toy body bumped into the tree behind of him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save Tifa."

Both the dragon head and the wolf head were coming right at his body and in moments both would sink their teeth into his stuffed toy body and rip it apart. Cait Sith closed his eyes and waited for the impact that would end his life for now. Nothing, had grabbed him yet he opened his eyes. Three Red XIII's were attacking the monster, it was too good to be true. He had to be dead and gone to heaven or well wherever stuffed animals go. Another Red XIII was in front of him bumping him with his head.

"Thing, you must get up. We must go, we cannot hold off the Devarok for long. So you must get up for we cannot carry you. Schorya, is grabbing your friend, so MOVE!"

Cait Sith looked over where another Red XIII, he shook his head, no Schorya, had Tifa's arm in its mouth and was dragging her into the bushes. He shook his head and then forced his stuff animal body to do exactly as the Red XIII yelled at him and move. The other three Red XIII's were leaping around the monster and slowly guiding it away from them and further off into the forest. He followed the Red XIII as it led him down, what he realized was a trail in the forest. The Red XIII would occasionally look over its shoulder at him to make sure that he was keeping up, but otherwise was completely silent.

As they walked he would keep looking at Tifa, Schorya had somehow managed to get Tifa up on her back so that she wasn't being dragged across the ground by her arm. She was pale and losing a lot of blood, he could tell by the amount that was staining Schorya's fur and Schorya was already a blood colored Gi. At least she was still breathing, although every breath she took sounded like her last.

"Thing, my name is Kotara."

"And mine is Cait Sith, not thing, my companion, her name is Tifa Lockheart and I would like to say I am very grateful for your help."

"I only hope your friend survives, Cait Sith, to be grateful to us as well. She will die if she does not get help soon and I only hope that the Elders will be able to save her."

Cait Sith looked over at the dark-haired woman again. She was dying. _I hope we reach their village soon._

-----

They had reached the village several hours after later and Tifa was whisked away into one of the huts and had been asleep since then. He was glad to hear that she had finally woken up, they weren't sure when they first got here if they were able to save her and he finally had to shut down for his internal systems to begin to repair themselves. It was another day before he could finally turn back on and even then he was nowhere near being fully fixed. He had heard from Kotara that it took all the elders to pull Tifa from death's door and even then she had to be watched constantly. They wouldn't be able to relax until she woke up, if she woke up that is.

Well finally after five days she had woke up, maybe it was only for a couple of minutes but the mere fact that she woke up said that she would get better. Almost a week and a half since they started this quest and already they had almost been killed by a monster that they had never seen before, met a whole village of Gi who the rest of the world thought was extinct. Something was up and he had a feeling that Aeris wasn't even the beginning of it.

He walked over to the hut she was in to check up on her. She was laying in the bed, still as could be. This was the first time since they came to the village he could check on her. Kotara had told him that he could not be in there while the Elders worked and doubted he could force his way in on her even had he wanted to. Her face was pale and bruises and scratches marred her skin from the battle. She had a cut lip, a large bruise on her cheek, and there was bandage wrapped around her forehead and that was only her face. He hated to see the rest of her. Oh well there was nothing to do but settle himself against the wall so he could be there when she woke up. Maybe he could fix his interface so he could finally hook up to Reeve and let him know everything that has happened and to see if any other eventful things turned up.

AN: TADA! End of the chapter. Hope you all like the newer version. The whole fight scene was added and well a little bit more.


	4. New Partner

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 nor any of its characters. I'm merely a poor writer trying to gain a small enjoyment.**

He stared at the door, momentarily wondering whether he should enter or not. The door read 'ShinRa Corp.' it led into a tall building. Pushing the door open he walks in, a young woman sat behind a desk typing. Hearing the door open she looks up from her typing to see whom the visitor is.

"Oh, Mr. Valentine, you're here. I'll call up to the office immediately please hold on for a moment," saying that she dials the phone talks a bit then puts it back down. "Please go right through the elevator."

Nodding in compliance he walks up and enters. Waiting for the ten floors to pass by, the bell rings signaling that they reached the eleventh floor. The door opens and he walks through. The area was rather sparse accommodation wise, but that suited him fine. Sensing a presence coming near he merely stands and waits patiently. A woman maybe ten years younger then him comes up.

"So your Vincent Valentine. Hmmm, I thought you would be more imposing looking or at least not so drab looking."

"Please Marina don't insult him so," Reeve says as he walks towards them.

"Vincent it is good to see you again. How long has it been? Well it doesn't matter, just follow me."

With that he begins to walk away motioning for both of them to follow him. Stopping before a door, Reeve pushes it open and walks in. In the room there was a large desk and several chairs.

"Sit down, please. I have a request to make of you."

"A request? What kind of request do you require of me, Reeve? It has been long since I have worked for or even helped ShinRa. Though it is not the same company as it once was, it still bears the same name."

"This request is not for the company Vincent, but for your companions."

"Why what is the problem with them?"

"As you left in the middle of the night from Tifa's I expect you would not know what has happened. In the middle of the night Cloud had a dream about Aeris and her revival," before he could say anymore Vincent interrupted him in the middle. "You can not revive the dead, Reeve. I more than any other know that."

"Yes well apparently this time you can. Aeris told Cloud that due to her help in saving the planet she could be revived or brought back to life. All that he had to do was put her in the spot that she died at and she would be alive again."

After saying this Reeve pauses for a moment as if to gather his thoughts and words and to give time for Vincent to digest this. Marina merely sat and watched both men as they talked. Her reason for being there would become apparent before the meeting was over.

"So there is a way for her to come back to life. Such is the fate for life's chosen," Vincent murmurs to himself.

"Anyway knowing this Cloud decided to propose an expedition to bring back Aeris. Myself, not being as gullible as Cloud have decided that this may be some sort of trick. That the person that they are bringing back may not be Aeris. Tifa did not go along either."

"Nor would she I believe, for this would mean losing something very special to her. The others may not have noticed it, but I did. She has feelings for Cloud that she tried to hide."

Staring at him strangely for a moment Reeve continues, "As I was saying Tifa did not go along so she and my counterpart Cait Sith have decided to go to Cosmo Canyon to find out the reason of Aeris's reappearance. Along the way we were attacked by a creature that I have never seen before. It was too powerful for us to defeat and we were nearly killed. Thankfully we were rescued by a tribe of Red XIII's people and are currently residing with them."

_A creature that they could not defeat. Tifa is powerful as well as Cait Sith although there was only the two of them they should be able to defeat anything with ease. So along with the revival of Aeris there are new monsters stalking the planet. New, powerful monsters. _Vincent thinks to himself.

"And this involves me how?"

"Well here is what I was thinking. Maybe you could go and try to discover the source of these new monsters and try to stop them. If you accept this I would like you to take Marina along, she is our newest Turk and quite a powerful fighter. I believe you will need help to stop these, which is why I ask this of you."

Glancing over at the woman, she looks at him and smirks. The look on her face so sure that he would agree that he was almost tempted to refuse just to take the knowing look off of her face. He wouldn't he knew because if these creatures were as powerful as Reeve claimed he may very well need the backup.

"Very well. Come we're leaving."

"Wh-what so quick?"

"No need for delay."

With that he stands up and walks out of the office. Marina stands up quickly and follows. Watching the two of them leave Reeve laughs softly imagining the difficulties that Marina would end up putting him through. Such a hard-headed woman. It would do her some good to be put on a mission so soon after passing the tests to become a Turk. Also it might do Vincent good to be put with a person who would not let him wallow in his depression.

Walking out of the building with the woman following behind him he stops and pauses allowing her to catch up as well as glare at him.

"Okay now what do we do?"

"What you don't know? I wasn't expecting this. Well I believe we should head to the Mako reactors since they were what was making the monsters before. There are only a few reactors left though since you and your friends destroyed so many."

"Very well let us head to the reactor in Nibelhelm. After that we shall see." Saying that Vincent began to stride off heading for the exit of the city. She bites back a curse then rushes after him. _Stupid, thick-skulled man why does he always stalk off like that. I haven't even known him for a couple hours and he is already getting on my nerves._


	5. Summoning Gems

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of it's characters.**

"Wake up. Please wake up, the elders would like to talk to you."

Opening her eyes experimentally she immediately noticed Kotara hovering over her asking her to get up. Groaning a little she moves her head and then attempts to sit up. Her attempt ended with her screaming in pain as her ribs screamed in protest to her moving.

"Do not move you still are not fully healed."

"I just figured that out if you hadn't noticed."

"Since you are awake I shall now go and get the elders."

Saying this Kotara rushed out of the hut to get her elders. Sighing a little Tifa lays her head back down onto the pillow, no sense in her moving if it produced so much pain. Hoping to go back to sleep soon since there was nothing else she could do that would actually interest her and her body was starting to ache all over. _I hope Kotara gets back soon, I'm not sure how long I can stay awake._ After this thought Kotara comes back into the hut followed by three others of her kind. One of them was a dark green, another a black, and the third a deep beige color all of them looked old beyond all years. A sense of power surrounded all three of them and something inside of her recognized even though she had never seen them before. She felt as though she had a connection with them that went beyond anything she had ever felt before.

"Tifa, I would like to present Elder Jarafi, Elder Fearia, and Elder Kovar. Elders, this is the human woman Tifa Lockheart."

"Pleased to meet all you, I would stand up to greet you, but I'm afraid it's not so good for me to move right now," Tifa says to three elders embarrassed that she couldn't greet them properly.

"That does not matter to us young Lockheart, your health does. Now to the point. We wish to know more of this Nanaki and how he could be living in Cosmo Canyon without us knowing about it."

Tifa sighed. She almost forgot about the whole thing that happened when she woke up the first time. But looking back on it, she remembered how shocked Kotara was when she mentioned Red XIII and how the Gi took off right after he was mentioned.

"I don't know how you don't know about him, but I can tell you more about him as a person..."

Tifa began about the story about how they met and what they did together, like ridding the world of Sephiroth and Jenova. She explained till her throat was dry and when she was given water she began to tell more. A few hours she sat and told her story as well as, all of AVALANCHE's story. At the end of her story the elders merely stared at her then each other for a moment.

"Young Lockheart, we would like to discuss your tale with you some more, but we can tell you are at the end of your endurance and shall leave you to your sleep. When you next awaken we will talk further. Until then sleep well."

The three elders walked out of the hut and Kotara hurried forward and urged her to drink some more and then sleep. The whole time assuring her that next time she awoke that she would see to it that her companion visited her. Too tired to protest and in too much pain to care Tifa drifted off to sleep, the last thing she remembered was the pain fading and a hearing a soft ringing noise in her head.

-----

Tifa slowly drifted to consciousness, her head still felt fuzzy and her mouth was dry. She hated whenever she got hurt, because she couldn't help but display her weak side to everyone. Her weak side that was none of the others business, she lay in bed and cataloged all her injuries. Broken ribs, multiple fractures, cuts, bruises, pulled muscles, and several bumps and scrapes. How was she going to track down all the stuff about Aeris if she was so hurt?

"How are you Tifa? You have slept for over two days, since telling the elders your story."

She tensed up upon hearing the voice of Kotara and then forced herself to relax.

"You should be up and moving soon. We managed to heal most of the life threatening wounds, but you still must relax. Your friend Cait Sith will be here shortly."

A couple minutes later Cait Sith came bouncing in. Sitting on top of the moggle he looked worried, but a grin soon appeared when he saw her awake and sitting up.

"Tifa, your awake. Thank goodness, you had me worried there," Cait said to her. Looking her over and then announcing she was as good as new he began to tell her all that has happened since that monster. "... and just yesterday I sent Vincent and the Turk Marina out on a mission to find out about the monsters. The other Turks are still looking for clues and I've already told you about you and me."

Nodding her head she began to calculate how much time they wasted, how much more would be wasted by her injuries, and the soonest they could possibly leave. "Cait Sith we have to leave tonight, we've wasted too much time already. We need to..." before she could say anymore she was interrupted by Kotara and the entrance of three elders.

"You need to rest, Tifa. You have been hurt badly and are only now just recovering you can't afford to be hurt again," Kotara began knowing how much pain Tifa was still in.

"No, Kotara. This young woman will do what she has to do, the only help we can give her now is by sending you along," the Elder Fearia said with the other two nodding agreement. The fur around Kotara's neck rippled in response to her shock at the words, but the young Gi remained silent as the three elders continued to talk.

"Young Lockheart, on you and your companion may very well rest the fate of the world. We sense an Ending and a Beginning to things, but to what things we do not know. So Kotara we send with you to help you on your quest," the Elder Kovar continued. "Along the way you will have to be strong in spirit and body."

"We wish for Kotara also to bring back information of the outside world and of the young Nanaki that you spoke of," the Elder Jarafi also said.

"We send you the best we have to offer. Tomorrow we will bring out the summoning gems and give to you them. They will help you on your quest. For now though you must rest and gain strength for tomorrow will be short in coming and long in ending."

Saying this the three elders nod to all of them then walk out of the hut. A speechlessness descended on all who were still in the hut. Tifa stared at the other two, not sure on what to say and Cait Sith fiddled with the toy moogle. Kotara sat on her haunches staring at the floor, but soon let her shock go upon seeing the pain that Tifa was still in.

Kotara gets up and grabs a cup that was setting on a desk and brings it over to Tifa.

"Drink this Tifa. It will put you to sleep, but it will also help with the pain you feel from your wounds. You need much rest because all of us have a long day and a lot of travel ahead of us."

:The Next Day:

Leaning on Cait Sith she managed to walk out of the hut. Leading them was Kotara, she promised that the clearing was not far off and that after receiving the summoning gems they could leave right away. Transportation would be provided for as well. Walking into the clearing all of the village stood in a rough circle with an entrance for the three of them to walk into. After they walked into the circle the walkway closed and the elders appeared in the middle.

"Come over here, Young Lockheart. Come fourth and take the gems of summoning. Your companions must stay where they are because this is for you and you alone," Elder Jarafi said to her. Nodding in compliance Tifa began her slow walk to the elders. Coming up till she was only three feet away from them she stopped. Slowly the three elders pulled out three snowy white gems. The three gems sparkled and glinted in the sunlight, a light of their own appearing in the middle of them.

"Place out your hand," Tifa does as commanded and suddenly a claw was slashed across her wrist. "Keep your hand still and make sure the blood goes over the gems," Elder Kovar instructed. Wincing in pain Tifa does so, the gems being washed in her blood changed colors. From the snowy white they became a blood red, stained the color of her blood.

"These gems are now connected to you, by your blood. Only you may summon them and beware when you do for you MUST show them that you are their master," the Elder Fearia warned her. Seeing her look of confusion Fearia shook her head slowly, "These gems are not like any other, they are bound to you by blood. The beings living in these gems must be asked not commanded."

"You must gain their respect, and keep it. You will be their master or summoner," Elder Kovar warned her too. "This is a great power and with it comes an even greater responsibility. To use their full power, you must be the master of them." The elder Jarafi shook his head and looked at her.

"Young Lockheart, we give a great power, but with this power danger can also come. If you do not master these gems they will master you. If that happens you will be doomed."

As Tifa started to ask why, all three told her that it must not happen and that she must show her strong will. Her will would be the way and show her how to win. Before she could protest anymore they told her it was the time to leave and she had little time to do so. The circle dispersed and she was left with only Kotara and Cait Sith at her side. Kotara said they should leave now because everything was ready and reminded Tifa that she wanted to leave so badly yesterday. Nodding slowly the three of them turned around and began to walk towards the entrance. At the entrance stood the two chocobos they thought they lost in the battle with the monster that injured them. Mounting up the rode from the village with Kotara loping along at their side.

The destination they seeked was still Cosmo Canyon. Their mission was to find out anything about Aeris and maybe save the world.

A/N: Hope you guys like this version better.


	6. Enemies

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Final Fantasy 7 or ANY of it's characters.**

For a week they had been traveling, keeping a semi-slow pace so that Aeris wasn't pushed to hard, after all she was just brought back to life. The week was one of the best in his life, he had Aeris back and they didn't run into any strong monsters on the way to Midgard. Tifa would have to accept that this was Aeris and she was back to stay.

"Cloud, are you okay?" Aeris asked softly as she came up beside him. It was nighttime and his turn to keep watch. Nodding his head he glanced over at her and smiled. The light from the fire was behind her and illuminated her figure. Swallowing he realized he could see the curves of her body through the dress because of the firelight. Blushing at his thoughts he looked away.

"When we get back, Teef will realize that it's really you and then..."

"Do you really think Tifa will believe it's really me, Cloud?"

"How can she not?" he retorts back to her. For a moment anger clouded his thoughts at the betrayal of his so-called best friend. _She should be happy that Aeris is back, not off doing whatever._ Shaking his head he looks back at Aeris, tears were coming down her cheek.

"Oh Aeris," he whispers as he walks over and pulls the woman into his arms. She wraps her arms around him and begins to cry all the more. The brown haired woman sobbed in his arms at the thought that Tifa didn't believe and trust her. It hurt more than she liked to admit that Tifa didn't trust her and because of her the entire group was split.

"I didn't want this to happen when I was told I could come back, Cloud. I'm so sorry that everything with Tifa got all screwed up because of me."

Cloud pulled her even closer to him at the confession of the brown haired woman. Her body shudders against him as she cries, but even then she doesn't cry loud enough to wake the others who still slept. He rubs circles on her back as she cries in his arms and even after she slowly calms down he continues rubbing her back in a soothing motion.

_Tifa, what are you thinking? Why are you hurting Aeris?_

-----

Midgard was in sight. In a few short hours Tifa would have to agree it was Aeris and then they could all make up and have a party at her bar in celebration of Aeris's return. For over a half an hour Aeris cried about Tifa last night. It wasn't fair to Aeris that Tifa could act so spiteful. Reaching the Bar, they could all sense something was wrong. It wasn't lit up and the fact that the closed sign sitting in the bar window told them that there wouldn't be making up anytime soon.

Cloud walked up the front door of the bar, not expecting it to be unlocked, it didn't matter too much because Tifa gave him a spare key. It opened. Inside the bar someone was standing behind the bar in the spot Tifa usually stood, but it wasn't the dark-haired woman. It was a woman in a black suit with short blonde hair, it was Elena.

"What are you doing here? And where is Tifa?"

"My god, you really did bring back Miss Priss. Anyway I'm here to tell you that Tifa isn't here, obviously and for your second question I don't know where she's at." Elena replied as she smirked at all of them. She was going to get the most out of this whole annoy the wonder team and point them in the wrong direction. She didn't like Tifa much, but she liked Miss Priss even less and seeing Aeris back was bringing out the bitch part of her personality.

"Why you blonde sonuva bitch!!" Barret shouted as he brought his gun arm up to aim at the Turk. Turning around Cloud jumped at Barret to stop him from shooting at her while Cid jumped at him on the other side. When they had Barret calmed down they turned back to her. She had stood there the entire time with that smirk on her face, not saying a word, just watching them as they calmed Barret down.

"Do you have any idea where Tifa might be?" Aeris said as she walked around all of them to confront Elena.

"No, for all I know she might be dead, because Reeve lost contact with them a couple days ago."

With that statement Elena walked out. _God, what idiots, but this is fun. Good thing Reeve said not to tell to them anything more than that, it wouldn't be half as much fun otherwise._ If they wanted any more information they were going to have to come see Reeve and he was going to be taking off soon, so they better hurry and without Reeve, the wonder team better not expect any help from the Turks. The only person Reeve told them all to help and obey was Tifa and she was on her way to Cosmo Canyon. She walked back to Shinra laughing.

-----

­­­­­The party that they were going to have in celebration of Aeris's return was canceled. The shock of hearing Tifa, might be dead took away all the expectation that they had on returning to Midgar. When they built the bar, Tifa had it built so there would be several rooms available to all of them in case they ever spent the night. At the moment everyone took off to their own solitary haunts throughout Midgar, Barret took off to see to Marlene, while Cid, Red XIII, and Yuffie took off together. The only two to remain at the bar were Cloud and Aeris and both of them were avoiding looking at each other.

"Cloud, I'm sorry."

Turing around quickly he looked at her, she had a sad expression on her face as if everything was her fault which it wasn't.

"It's not your fault Aeris," he said as closer to her. With her hair out of its ordinary ribbon it surrounded her face, making her even more beautiful. She looked up at him, a solitary tear going down her cheek. He brought his hand up and wiped it away with his thumb.

"Cloud..." she whispered as she moved her face towards his. Staring at her mesmerized by her eyes he closed the distance between their faces and gently kissed her lips. Pulling away he looks at her again.

"It's okay, Cloud," she said then puts her hands up to his face and pulls his face down to hers again. This time the kiss was neither gentle nor short, emotions or feelings were in this kiss, and those feelings were powerful. Both stopping to take a breath he pulls her against him all the tighter. Wrapping his arms around her he is all the certain that this is the Aeris he fell in love with? Fell in love with?!? Did he really love her? Was that love in her eyes when she gazed up at him?

"Yes, Cloud, I do love you," she whispered against his chest, her arms tightening around him. Shock lanced through him, then joy? She loved him, she loved him, SHE LOVED HIM! Looking down at her petite face he smiles with all the care that he could put on his face. Trying to tell her with his expressions what he couldn't say with words.

"I understand, Cloud."

-----

He stood out on the balcony and stared up at the sky. He finally got Aeris back to perhaps have lost Tifa. They never paid him to feel in Solider and now all this with Aeris and Tifa was something that he wasn't prepared to think about. For some miraculous reason Aeris loved him and how did he feel for her? Having her alive and nearby filled some void that her death caused, but Tifa was his best friend and he had loved her at one point in time. He had loved her first, but eventually when he realized she wouldn't feel the same way, the love Aeris offered him became the thing he latched on to.

How was he supposed to deal with all of this? He guessed he should be angry that Tifa was tainting the joy of having Aeris back, with her hard-headed and stubborn refusal to believe that Aeris was back for real. His mako blue eyes glowed with his anger because of Tifa. Did she not want Aeris to be happy, did she not want him to be happy? He chuckled to himself, he couldn't even force himself to stay angry at her. How could he be angry at her when he wasn't even sure if she was alive? She was his best friend, and she could be out there dying or even worse she could already be dead. He still couldn't figure out why Tifa did what she did. Barret had said that living a normal life was easier than killing Sephiroth, but personally he thought it was harder. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, tomorrow he would take Aeris over to her mother Elmyra and then he would go out and find his best friend. Cloud opened his eyes and went back into his room; he would need to get an early start tomorrow.

-----

Waking up in the morning he was warmer than he should have been, actually it was just one spot of warmth right beside him. Opening his eyes Aeris was laying beside him cuddled against him, her curled up beside him was enough to jolt him awake. His jerking woke her up. Looking up at him she grinned slowly. At her grin all of his worries and shock turned to embarrassment as his thoughts took a turn to something else.

"A-Aeris what are you doing here?"

"You were tossing and turning in your sleep and I felt safer sleeping with you. I hope your not mad at me," she said quickly as she looked up at him.

Saying no, he began to get out of bed, then lay back down real quick. He only had a pair of boxers on and they were beginning to feel a little tight when he looked at her. She only had a silk nightgown on and it was a soft pink. It clung to her figure, and he needed to get out of here now.

Stuttering something he began to babble on about how he was glad that he made her feel safer, but she really shouldn't come into his room like that. He wasn't mad at her but he thought that maybe she should go to her room, like now, because he had to change clothes and he couldn't do that with her there. Laughing softly she slowly stood up stretched and walked out of his room. Groaning softly he grabbed clothes then rushed for the shower. Yeah it was nice that they had gotten out of the way that she loved him and wanted to stay with him, but he wasn't ready for anything more. So seeing her like that this morning, he shook his head and groaned.

-----

At the breakfast table everyone was gathered around talking about how they were going to find Tifa. Because if she was in trouble they had to help her, because she was a part of the group and if she was hurt, whoever or whatever that hurt her was going to pay. Talking about the course of action and arguing which plan was better they chatted on.

"Um, everyone, if Tifa is really in trouble wouldn't she have called on the phone?" Aeris asked when there was a break in the chatter. Red XII looked at Cid, Cid looked at Yuffie, Yuffie looked at Barret, and Barret looked at Cloud. There were a few coughs and mumbled replies, but nothing more.

"Your right, Aeris. If Teef were in trouble she would call in a bang."

"But if she lost her phone?"

"Uh, Cait Sith's with her."

"So Reeve would know she's in trouble."

"Which would explain Elena being here?"

"Which brings us back to the beginning. If Teef is too hurt to call..." Cloud trailed off as he looked back to everyone else. If she wasn't hurt and was just staying away from them then it would be a wasted trip. But if she was hurt she could need the help and Reeve wouldn't lie about something like this.

"Everyone maybe we should give Tifa a day or two to come back and if she doesn't then we go out looking for her," Aeris said.

She looked all of them in the eye, trying to get them to see her way. Everyone talked a little more on what they should do and they finally agreed to Aeris's idea. If Tifa wasn't back in a couple days then they would go searching for her. After all of it was decided they all went their separate ways, Cloud and Aeris were going to head out to see the old church and to visit her mother. Cid muttered about going to Shera, Barret muttered about going to see Reeve, and Yuffie and Red XII went off together to who knew what.

-----

Yet again, it was just Cloud and Aeris sitting at the 7th Heaven. They were supposed to go over to the old church and then visit her mother over in Sector 6. They were going to give it two days and then they were going to go searching for Tifa. Barret was already heading towards Shinra so that he could talk to Reeve and see if he could get more information about what has been happening since they've been gone.

"Well you ready to go visit your mother?"

"Yes, I would like that very much."

After Cloud locked up the 7th Heaven they both began to walk towards Elmyras house. Along the way Cloud planned on stopping by the old church to show Aeris what the people of Midgar had done with it in memory of her and the sacrifice she made for all of them. He thought she would like it very much. While they walked Aeris held his hand and gazed at everything, much was changed since meteor happened and people were rebuilding stores and homes. She was so busy looking and taking in all the new sights that she wasn't even aware of the fact that they were so close to the church now. It made him smile and he hoped she would enjoy the surprise that he was about to show her. She was so taken in with the sights of everything that when he stopped all of the sudden she bumped right on into him.

"Why are we…."

Looks of wonder, surprise, and joy cross over her face as she gazes at the rebuilt church. The people of Midgar had gone all out when it came to fixing the small church up. The fence around the church was now fixed and painted white, with flowers on each side of the walkway to the entrance. Aeris let go of his hand to slowly make her way up to the church, he slowly follows behind her letting her take in all the changes. Entering the church the pews were rebuilt, the walls painted and the stained glass windows fixed. At the very end where the floor was all broken through, now it was fixed so that the flowers that she had planted so long ago were still blooming and more flowers were added in with. As she looked around the room, she realized that the flowers that she had grown were potted and setting on the ledge by each stained glass window.

Cloud watched her walk down the aisle, touching the pews and when she reached the flowers she planted she kneeled down in front of them letting her hands touch the petals and leaves. He watched her for a few moments more before realizing her shoulders were silently shaking and that she was crying. Worried about her he makes his way to way she was kneeling at the front of the church. Tears were running down her cheeks, but she was smiling.

"Who…who did this?"

"Everyone, Reeve gathered a bunch of people together and they all rebuilt this place as a memorial to you."

"It's amazing. Why would Reeve do this?"

"…"

"Thank you for showing this place to me Cloud."

"Let's go to your mothers."

As they leave the church yard Aeris plucks a flower and tucks it behind her ear and with one last look back at the church they head to Elmyra's house. Eventually they reach the small two story house that Elmyra lived and even it showed signs of the house being fixed up a little. Aeris glances at him then runs up to her home. She reaches the door and begins to pound on it. No answer. Cloud walks up from behind her and grabs the spare key hiding in the flower pot beside the door.

"Sometimes, Elmyra watches Marlene, so we hid a key up there for whenever Tifa and I come to pick her up."

Taking the key he unlocked the door. A scent hits their nose upon entry, something that he recognizes in the back of his head, but can't quite place. He looks around the living room everything was in the place it should be, nothing looked wrong, but something was off. Cloud glanced at Aeris; maybe it would be better if he had her go wait outside. It wasn't like Elmyra was expecting them, hell no one knew about Aeris coming back to life; he figured it would be a nice surprise for the older woman.

"Aeris…"

"No, Cloud, I'm not leaving. Something is wrong and this is my mother that is involved, so I'm staying here with you."

"…Fine. Stay close to me."

They walked out of the living room and checked the kitchen, still nothing. Only place left to look was upstairs, so they begin the trip to the bedrooms upstairs. Yet again, the scent is still in the air and it's stronger. Finally it connects in the back of his head where he recognizes the scent, blood and not freshly spilt blood either. He looks over at Aeris, maybe there was still time to go and get her wait outside. The determined look on her face, tells him not to even bother trying; she wasn't going to leave without finding what was wrong. He sighed. He stepped around her and walked to the very last room, which was Elmyra's and pushes the door open. Flies buzz out. He walks all the way in, there pinned against the wall was Elmyra. Flies buzzed around her corpse and the way she died was quite obvious. She was pinned spread eagle against the wall each arm and foot had a dagger jammed through it, while another dagger was through her throat. Her eyes were bloody holes and her mouth was pulled back in a bizarre semblance of a smile, telling him she died screaming. He didn't bother moving closer, there was nothing he could do for her, but Aeris would need him. The thump behind him told him she had passed out at the sight of the corpse. He wouldn't call it by its name. To do otherwise would force him to think about Elmy…the corpse.

He picked up Aeris and gently pulled the door shut; he carried her down the steps and out of the house. Pulling out his phone Cloud dialed a number.

"This is Cloud and I need…"

-----

The sun tried to shine through the thick foliage of the forest, but only a small shaft of sunlight made it to the forest floor to touch the hooded figure. The trees cast shadows against the cloaked figure and darkness seemed to emanate from him. The hooded figured chuckled softly, the plan was going accordingly and all would be ready. They would pay for what they did to him; they would pay with their pain and eventually their lives. Oh yes it was going to be sweet when he brought his revenge down on them all. No one would be able to stop him. Hearing a sound he looked left then right, two more cloaked figures walked forward. Stopping a short distance, one of them said their part was nearly done. The other said that her part was done; now all they could do was wait and see what the enemy planned on doing.

All three cloaked figures laughed aloud, the play was set now all that was left was for the pieces to come forward and take their position. In the end everyone would pay for what they did and everything would end. After all every new beginning needed an ending.

-------

The old man looked up. Evil was afoot the planet was crying, her pain was even reaching his deafened ears. What was going to happen and would he be able to stop it, all of the special ones were gone, killed in one brutal slaughter. The planet really cried then, her children were gone. Sighing he began to set to work to stop the evil ones before they ended everything with their hatred. After all he was the opposite of them and would have to fight them if the chosen one did not come forward to fight them.

The chosen one, would the chosen one be strong enough to battle the evil? Because he could not fight the evil all by himself, especially since they outnumbered him three to one and he was old now, no longer in the prime of his life. His power was weakened and without the chosen one all was lost. All that was left to him was to go out and search for the chosen one. Because if they found the chosen one before he did then all was lost.

AN: Well, another chapter re-vamped and it got like 5 pages longer than the original, I kind of surprised myself. Well it is and it isn't different from the original. In the first one Elmyra did not die and in this one she did, well I think it added some more suspense to the plot which is still forming. Yes I know I seem to be shoving Cloud and Aeris together, but as much as I hate Aeris I don't want to be super OOC with my characters. Yes there are and will be OOC parts and forgive me for them, but I'm not going to go all crazy about it. Remember all you Cloud/Tifa lovers that this story will eventually be that, I dislike Aeris too much to make it not be. Well as always I look forward to positive critique and hope you all enjoyed the story.


	7. Old Foes and New Monsters

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of it's characters.**

They had been traveling to Nibelhelm for a couple days already. They got into only a couple of easy battles nothing like what Tifa and Cait Sith were supposed to have fought. Amazingly the two of them hadn't killed each other yet, all they did was argue on what to do on the way. Marina would want one thing Vincent another, so then they would argue on what is better until someone won or they both got sick of arguing. Nibelhelm was now in sight and now they would have to go up Nibelhelm mountain to reach the reactor. Deciding to rest and relax one day before they went on, they decide to stay at the Inn for that day. With the room already checked out for them, they go up.

"Okay Vincent. We're here, what do we do if nothing is there?"

"Search more."

"Is that all you have to say?!?"

"Yes."

"Gah, your such a…a…argh I don't know what!!"

"Good night. Be prepared."

_That jerk, why can't he be more sensible? I mean we have been traveling together for a couple of days and still all he does is say 'get ready' to me as if we have something big and bad waiting for us._ Turning her back to him she stares at the wall and fumes. This was her first real big mission and it was going to be ruined by some pain in the ass man who didn't know how to make a sentence longer than four words. The whole way here he never even asked her what she thought they should do, he just made every decision himself. Okay she may have not been a Turk very long, but the fact that she made it to become a Turk says in itself how good she was.

Vincent stared at the wall, listening to the woman mutter curses and complaints under her breath, probably about him if what he was hearing was correct. The whole way here she always had some better way to do something as if what he was doing was wrong. He couldn't help it if he became so used to doing something his way that he wouldn't be able to do it someone else's way. Also he wasn't going to apologize about it either. When he had been traveling with Cloud and everyone they usually left him to do things his own way not force other ways upon him. But this woman wasn't like the others either she had a certain air about her that said competent, but stubborn. Enough time for thinking about things later, tomorrow he had a mission and tomorrow would be coming soon. He soon fell asleep.

: Next Day:

It was now time to travel up to the Nibelhelm reactor. There would be many monsters along the way because even though the reactor didn't produce mako anymore they couldn't find away to get rid of the mako already in it. The woman, Marina argued with him about a guide, she wanted one and he didn't. Luckily after a while of arguing she gave in when he told her he would be as good as any guide. As they traveled up the paths that led up to the reactor it was rather calm and quiet.

"Did we pass this way already?"

"…"

"Because I can swear I saw this place already."

"No. Your merely tired and not seeing correctly."

"But…"

"No."

Marina went silent, when they rested she went off to the side. After that they began to travel again. She glared at him and he ignored her. This went on for a few hours, finally she began to become agitated.

"Are we traveling in circles?"

"No, I know where we are."

"Oh, do you know?"

"Yes."

"Just asking because I put this mark on this one rock and we've passed it like twice so far. So I just thought I would ask."

"…"

Vincent began to walk again, this time his head would swivel from right to left and he had a look of great concentration on face. As they passed her marked rock for a third time he sat down and stared at it. It was becoming dark now, and they should have been at the reactor hours ago. What should have been a simple trip up the reactor was soon becoming a real hassle. No really tough monsters had appeared to attack them and there was definitely no sign of anything like what attacked Tifa and Cait Sith. Sighing he looked over at the woman, she had a somewhat smug look that irked him to no ends. Yes it was true that he may have taken a wrong turn somewhere but she didn't have to look so gleeful about it. Yes maybe he should have agreed to them having a guide or maybe tomorrow he would see something he recognized in the bright daylight. Either way he would never admit it to her.

"Uh, Vincent, are we lost?"

"…"

"I'll take that as a yes."

"…"

"Maybe we should have hired a guide like I wanted."

"…"

At each pause she grinned some more. This may have been her first real, big mission but at least she proving to herself that she was more than capable for them. Also from the silence of Vincent he didn't have anything to say that went against what she said. From the looks of it the day was sort of wasted and there was no point in them traveling in the dark. So they both settled down and set up camp. Both of them sat around the small fire and ate their meal in silence. Occasionally a small comment was made by Marina and Vincent would either answer or ignore the comment entirely. It had been dark for a few hours and soon they would begin watch. Marina decided she would take first watch and Vincent would take the second, once this was decided Vincent laid down to rest. A half an hour later she thought he was asleep when he stirred.

"Marina."

"Huh, your awake."

"Yes. This area is not as I remembered it."

"Is that your apology? For not letting me hire a guide."

"…"

"Okay, okay, your forgiven. And sorry for annoying you so much."

"You do not…annoy…me."

"Oh, okay."

"…"

After this the night went on and in the middle of the night they switched positions. Morning soon came and it was time for them to begin to search for the reactor again. A short couple of hours later and they were standing before the Nibelhelm reactor. Pausing to stare at it for a few moments they take in its condition, it looked rundown and more than a little depressing. After the few minutes were up they both walk in thru the entrance. The inside of it looked much like the outside and yet there were still no monsters. As they came to the second room they realized one thing all of the canisters in there were busted open and it was eerily quiet. From Clouds description of the room the canisters should have had people in them and they should be hearing the machinery. There was nothing, no people from the canisters lying around dead and no sound at all. Something was wrong, very wrong.

Vincent rushed up the steps with Marina a little behind him watching the surroundings. Walking into the room where Jenova was kept Vincent recognized a change in the environment immediately. While the other rooms were unkempt and dirty this room was obviously taken care of. Across the are there were scattered bits of monsters lying here and there. A gasp behind him made him quickly turn around. Marina was standing in front of a monster. The monster itself looked like it was pieced together from a bunch of other monsters, his guess the bits and pieces scattered along the floor around him. The only way out was blocked by the monster and the situation did not look good. Casting a few spells at it, they bounced right back at them.

"Vincent, what are we going to do?"

"Fight. It's the only way or we are surely doomed."

"Okay. Then let's go."

Both of them rushed forward to attack the creature. As they attacked it a strange thing was happening behind them. The pieces were beginning to move and they were heading towards the two fighters. Trapped in both sides the two could only attack on and try to survive. Marina would cast healing spells on Vincent and herself and occasionally Vincent would summon something to attack. They were barely holding their own and if the fight went on much longer they would be killed. Suddenly everything stopped, the pieces quit moving and the monster quit attacking.

"What's going on?"

"I do not know."

"Your going to die, didn't you know?" a voice from behind the monster said. Walking around it they soon saw the figure, the person was dressed in all black and they could see nothing of the persons face. The person stared at them and then back at the monster before talking to them again.

"You're going to die and I will watch you die."

"Who are you?"

"What don't recognize me, Vincent?"

"No."

"Oh, I'm hurt I really am. I never thought you would be able to forget me," the figure pouted. Then he began to laugh manically at the thought of something. After he quit laughing he turned to them and reached up and pushed his hood down. Shock lanced through Vincent.

"You!!!"

"Oh yes, Vincent, me."

AN: Ok this chapter didn't a whole lot. Really I only fixed the grammar and spelling errors. Hope you enjoy and catch you later.


	8. Dreams and Decisions

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters.

They had just left the village and had been traveling a couple of hours, before they had to stop and take a rest. The wounds that Tifa had declared fine, were bleeding and had to be re-bandaged again. Since it was close to the evening they all decided to take a rest and eat their dinner.

"So Kotara, where exactly are we?"

"We are a days travel from the place you call Cosmo Canyon."

"So if we're only a day's travel, how come no one has discovered your village before?"

"Well Cait Sith, we use our magic to repel all people."

"Oh. Well how do you do that?"

Kotara looked down at the ground for a moment and they swore that if she could blush, she would have been blushing. She softly mumbled something that didn't sound like any words they knew at all.

"What was that?"

She mumbled some more before finally answering them.

"I said it was a secret."

"Oh."

With Tifa's bandages wrapped and the bleeding stopped they began to travel again. The dark was soon closing in, the area around them was completely unfamiliar and that was odd seeing as how when they were going around trying to stop Sephiroth they had traveled pretty much the complete breadth of the planet. The landscape around them was dominated by tall trees that towered over the land; glimpses of creatures could always be seen in the corner of the eye. Overall the forest had a feeling of life that the others didn't. It was completely dark by the time they stopped for the night; the only light to be seen was the light that came from the flame that existed on Kotara's tail.

"We will rest here for the night," Kotara announced to the others as she laid down on all fours. Cait Sith tied the chocobos up and Tifa rested beside Kotara. They all sat in silence, listening to the surrounding nature. Tifa laid back and rested because the day had thoroughly exhausted her and soon she drifted to sleep. Cait Sith and Kotara let her drift away while they stayed up to keep watch.

_Someone was screaming. The scream was ear-shattering. Tifa jerked up and looked around her. Her two comrades were nowhere to be found. Her eyes widened as she stared at the area around her. She wasn't in the forest anymore; she was sitting in the middle of an open field. She could see nothing else, but the field. _

"_Kotara, Cait Sith, where are you guys?"_

_The only sound she heard in reply was the screaming. __**Where was it coming from? Why did it seem to be everywhere?**__ She got up and began to walk in the direction that seemed best, even though anywhere would have done. No matter where she walked she could still here the scream, it didn't change. She began to jog, and then stopped suddenly; there was no pain from her wounds. She didn't have any wounds. __**What the hell? What's going on? Where am I? And where is everyone?**_

"_KOTARA! CAIT SITH! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?"_

_Yet again there was no reply. Still the only thing she could hear was the scream. She was all alone. No one was there and no Cloud coming to rescue her. Her knight in shining armor answered to another. __**Aeris, are you real? Did you really come back? Did you take Cloud away again?**__ She shook her head to shake away those thoughts. She was all alone and she would have to deal with it. She rubbed the tears away from her eyes and stood proudly. Suddenly another noise joined the screaming it was a rumbling sound, coming from her left? Or was it her right? She looked both directions; darkness was approaching from all sides. _

_The scream stopped. Darkness engulfed the sky, except for one lone area of light. Shapes began to fly at her. They were moving too fast for her to see them. The screaming came back! She collapsed to her knees, the screams felt like they were shattering her mind. Each felt like a shard of glass being drove thru her brain. She couldn't fight the pain, it was tearing her apart. Then as quickly as it started it stopped. She could see the shapes now, thru her bleary eyes. They…were people. All of the sudden it all flashed away. There was nothing but darkness around her. She could see nothing. Suddenly she was floating in space, watching the destruction of a planet. The sun dimmed then imploded, all other planets were dying. Laughter shrieked throughout the cosmos as each planet died. Then it stopped. One glowing light remained to battle the darkness. Slowly she drifted closer to that one light. All of the sudden she began to fight with her entire being to stop going closer. She knew, she knew with all of her heart and soul that she didn't want to see what that one light was. _

_Still she drifted closer. So much pain, sadness, and anger were ramming into her senses. All the pain in the world didn't compare to what was there. The grief was overloading her senses, and the anger, so much anger, was tearing her apart. _

"_Nooooo," she moaned as she was pulled closer against her will. All of those feelings were being directed at her. She began to scream, it was too much._

"AHHHH!"

"Tifa, what's wrong?" Kotara asked as she stared Tifa in the face, worry apparent on her features. Cait Sith crowded behind her, staring at her as well. She looked around, she was back in the forest and her friends were there with her. Her throat was clogged up, she couldn't talk about what she saw or dreamt about. It was horrible. Instead of answering she began to cry. Great racking sobs that stopped her from answering anything her two friends looked at each other, then back at her. Cait Sith moved around her and put his arms around her to hug her. She turned around in his embrace threw her arms around his neck and cried.

"Tifa, what's wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen?"

"Did you dream?" Kotara asked quietly as Tifa cried. Cait Sith looked over at her, but her entire focus was on Tifa. Tifa shook her head in Cait Sith's neck and cried harder.

"Kotara, maybe we should leave Tifa alone, until the morning. How does that sound to you?"

Tifa nodded her head as she cried onto him. Kotara stared a moment longer than inclined her head in agreement to what he suggested. Tifa sent him a look of thanks and they all sat back to wait for the morning to come.

**-----**

_What was that dream? Why did I fear it so much?_ Tifa rubbed the tears away from her eyes. She volunteered to take watch because she didn't want to go back to sleep, didn't want to chance dreaming again. The dream wasn't even that scary and the light is never scary, so why did she fear it so much. I wish I knew why I had that dream. Can it have anything to do with what the Elders told me? Either way I hope I don't have it again. She looked at her two companions. Both of them were so worried about her and she felt bad because she couldn't tell them why. She didn't want to think about it. Reaching into her back pocket she pulled out the three summoning gems. What was in them, what magical beings did they contain? What would happen to her if she used them. She shuddered, she didn't want to use them, so she would avoid doing so at all costs

_Cloud, where are you and what are you up to? Are you even worried about me or are you so caught up in Aeris._ Her eyes began to water as she thought of all the things she wanted to tell him, but never would be able to now. Not with Aeris there now, she would have to go back to just being his good old friend Tifa.

"Nothing more than a friend," she whispered to herself as she thought about how it always had been that way between them. He never even suspected that she cared more than just a friend. She didn't mention it when Aeris was around because Aeris was her friend. Someone she could relate to, possibly even become the best of friends with. Then Aeris died, no was killed, and Cloud…Cloud wouldn't have been able to cope with her feelings because he was still reeling over losing Aeris. Then he had to stop Sephiroth and it never seemed like the right time to tell him and afterwards, she realized it would never be the right time. Then when her bar was started she swore she would tell him, but Aeris' ghost always haunted his dreams and thoughts, so she kept quiet. It was only till the party that she realized that Cloud would always think about Aeris and she didn't have a spot in his heart like that. She smirked as she reached up to wipe away another tear, it seemed like all she was doing lately was crying.

She leaned back against the tree she was sitting against and stared up at the stars. Surprisingly even though they were in a forest she could still see the stars pass the tops of the trees. Sighing she stared at the moon, then back to the stars, as she watched them a shooting star went past. _See a shooting star and make a wish. I wish, I wish I knew why I had that dream. Wishing for Cloud just wouldn't be right, but if you can grant another wish, star, please let him love me as a friend if nothing more._ Shaking her head she slowly stood up and stretched careful of her wounds. Glancing at them she noticed the bandages would have to be changed soon or they would begin to leak through. It sucked she couldn't cast Cure. It was odd actually because for some reason, magic didn't work on these wounds, so she had to heal naturally. At least they were healing somewhat fast thanks to Kotara's people. After stretching a little she sat back down and waited for the sun to come up.

-----

All three of them were packing up the stuff and clearing away the remains of the fire they had the night before. By common consent they didn't mention the dream or the fact that when they woke up Tifa was crying. They ignored the fact and went on with what they were doing. Soon they had everything packed up and it was time to leave. Before mounting the chocobos Kotara checked Tifa's bandages and had Cait Sith change them. After this was done they took off.

"We should reach Cosmo Canyon in a few hours."

Tifa and Cait Sith glance at each other then back to Kotara.

"What is it?"

"Uh, Kotara, where are we?"

"In the Forest of Shadows."

"Never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have."

The two waited for further explanation, but Kotara seemed to have decided she had said enough and they left it at that. Soon enough they left the forest and like magic the forest seemed to have disappeared without a trace. Kotara after watching it disappear nodded her head as if pleased and took off again without allowing them the time to ask a question. As the day went on Cosmo Canyon soon came into sight. It was time for some answers that they could possibly get from Bugenhagen.

"This is the place where the one you call Red XIII was raised?"

"Yeah, him and his parents when they were alive."

They walked up to the entrance and waited for permission to enter. The man standing guard at the entrance smiled at them, looked at Kotara and was about to say something to her when he realized that she wasn't Red XIII. As soon as he discovered this his mouth dropped in surprise and he just stared.

"Hi, Bob, we need to see Bugenhagen." (AN: I didn't know his name, so it's Bob)

"Uh, sure, Tifa, whatever you say. Go on in."

Saying that he motioned them all in and as they walked away stared at Kotara the whole way. Soon enough quite a few people were staring at Kotara, for she was the first of her kind to be seen other than Nanaki and his family. By the time they reached the top where they could reach Bugenhagen Kotara was thoroughly flustered with all the attention she had been receiving. Bugenhagen's house was right in front of them and all they had to do was enter. So they did. Walking into the quiet house they sit down on the chairs or floor to wait for the elderly man to enter. Soon enough he drifted down from the top to see his visitors.

"Ho ho ho, welcome all of you. Hopefully you haven't had to wait too long or be bugged to much about yourself," he said with a grin at Kotara. She merely shrugged her head with a shy gesture.

"Hello, Tifa, Cait Sith, and…"

"Kotara."

"And Kotara. What may I do for?"

"Aeris is alive."

At those words, all the cheerfulness drained from his face. A serious expression graced his features and with a gesture he motioned for Tifa to explain. So she began to tell him what had happened so far.

"…and we left the Forest of Shadows and traveled to ask for your advice."

At the mention of the forest shock appeared on his features then swiftly disappeared to an expression of deep thought.

"Hmmm, much has happened since I last saw you all."

"Yeah," Tifa said with a small frown.

"So the last Cetra has returned and the children of the mother walk the world once again," at his words Kotara's head jerked up to stare at him in shock.

"How…" she began then stopped.

"I'm an old man, dear. I have plenty of time to spend just learning about the past and everything involved in the past and the mother's children are very involved in the past."

"But, all the old texts I thought we had destroyed them, so what happened didn't occur again."

The old man smiled at her gently.

"No, and I'm not enough of a fool and I don't think you are either to think that mine are the only remaining records. Your being here is proof enough of that. I was surprised though, when Seito and his family appeared at my doorstep, for I too thought you were all gone. So when they asked to stay here I said yes and then began my search for information on your people."

Kotara looked at the ground the worry evident on her features. Tifa and Cait Sith looked on clueless as they didn't know what was going on. They came here for some answers, not more questions. Mystery seemed to surround every step of their quest and none of the mystery was being lifted. Kotara glanced over at them, then would look away, this process was repeated for several times. Suddenly Tifa understood.

"Go ahead, Kotara, we'll wait here for you."

Sending her a smile of gratitude Kotara leapt to her feet and took off. They all watched her leave and in their thoughts wished her well. Tifa looked over at Bugenhagen and he smiled at her knowingly.

"The children of the mother are Kotara, Nanaki, and all of their people. The mother is the planet. Does that answer one question, Tifa?"

"Yes, but I have many, many more."

"Very well, ask away. I shall answer to the best of my abilities."

"Is it possible for Aeris to come back?"

"I don't know. It has never been done before. But then again Aeris is also a Cetra so it could be quite possible for her to be able to come back."

"Oh. Is there any way to tell if it's really Aeris?"

"No, none for certain because no one knows what dying and coming back to life does to a person."

Tifa looked down at her feet chewing on her lip as she processed what he told her. There were so many questions that she wanted to ask and she didn't know what to ask first. Some of them she didn't want to ask with Cait Sith there either, she didn't know why she felt this way, but she did. He was one of her really good friends and she couldn't ask some of the things that needed to be asked. _What's wrong with me?_ She shook her head and looked back up, Cait Sith watched her worriedly and Bugenhagen sat patiently.

"The elders of the village said they sensed an ending and a beginning to things. Do you know what they mean?"

"Unfortunately, no I do not. I can sense something, but not to the degree that they could. All I do know is that something is coming and that something will change the world."

"Do you know what these are?" she asked as she pulled out the three summons that were given to her. Bugenhagen's eyes widen as he stared at them. Without answering he zoomed off in his chair, they could hear him rummaging through things looking for something. He came back carrying a book, when he was close enough for them to see the book he opened to a page. On the page were pictures of snow white glowing orbs, then pictures of the blood red orbs.

"Is this what they looked like before you got them," he asked as he pointed to the white orbs. At her nod he continued, "and then when they gave them to you they made you cover the orbs in your blood?"

"Yes, that's exactly what they did."

"Oh my, Tifa, you have been given a great power. See these summons are not like other summons, they will only answer to you and in time you will be able to summon them without using the orbs."

"I didn't know that. They only said that I must master them or they would master me."

"Yes, yes, for you see these summons are created by you, in other words they come from parts of you. Sadly enough, some people cannot face their own self and they run from seeing what they don't want to see. To know yourself fully without any masks or such is a frightening thing for most people and that is what the summons will force you to face. Your darkest and innermost self is what forms they will take when you summon them."

_My darkest and innermost self me without any mask,s not trying to hide all that I am. They will take on that form. I don't want these, I don't want them at all. I refuse to use them, I don't want to know my innermost self. I'm…scared of what I'll find_**.** Tifa thought about it all and Cait Sith though about it as well. He watched the fear appear on her face and the fear swiftly turned to determination. She had decided something and oddly enough he didn't know what it was. Most people he could read, but there were a few that were just unreadable to him. Tifa wasn't one of those people or at least she wasn't up until now. This adventure was showing him bits and pieces of Tifa that he had never seen before. It was intriguing. She was definitely more than just a pretty face and over lush body. Sadly, Cloud didn't see beyond what he saw either. Maybe Vincent was the only one who saw the true Tifa. He shook his head, he wanted to know and understand this woman more and more as her true personality came to the front and her mask was slowly destroyed. This adventure was definitely becoming more interesting by the minute. Danger always added a certain spice to things and this was definitely becoming dangerous.

"Cait Sith, no Reeve, could you please leave for a little while. I…I have to ask something and it's kind of private."

He stared at her in surprise; he wasn't expecting her to say that. He nodded his head and walked out of the building.

"Did you dream about something, Tifa?" Bugenhagen asked in his gentlest voice as she stared up at him in shock at asking the thing that so mirrored her thoughts.

"I, uh, yes, I did. How did you know?"

"I knew because you are sensitive to certain forces that are at work. I've sensed it time and time again and I believe the elders of Kotara's village have sensed it as well. For why else would they have given you the summoning orbs?"

"The dream it…was…horrible. I have never felt or seen anything else like that before. I mean I know Sephiroth was going to destroy the world with a meteor to make himself a god, but this was…beyond that. It was a simple joy of destroying things that this was done."

"Yes. Some people just want to destroy everything. The destruction gives them joy, as well as the pain of others. Now explain in full detail to me this dream."

Tifa nodded her head and slowly began to tell him all about her dream. He simply listened as she told him about the shapes and forms. He gave her sympathy when she told him about the scream that just wouldn't go away and patted her on the back as she cried about the planets being destroyed. The only time he showed an emotion other than sympathy was when she mentioned the lone light and how she felt when she saw it. A slight hitch in his motions was the only sign he gave that something was different when she mentioned it. Then when she quit talking he talked to her soothingly as she cried again.

"Tifa, your dream tells many things. It is a foretelling, I believe. I have had dreams that are somewhat close to what you dreamed, but nowhere near in as much as detail as you had. The one thing that confuses me though is that one light. You said anger, grief, and pain surrounded the light. I do not know what it could mean. As much as it pains me to tell you this, I believe you will have this dream again and will see more every time until the very end of all of this."

_Dream it again and again. Then I don't want sleep. I won't sleep until it all of this ends. One way or another._

"Either way, dear one, it is growing late and you must rest because of your injuries. The spare bedroom is to the right. Tomorrow we can talk more."

"Thank you," she whispered as she walked to the room. As she walked away Cait Sith came in. He looked over at Tifa, then Bugenhagen. The bedroom door closed.

"How is she?"

"Very confused and more than a little lost. I sent her to get some rest because talking to me took a lot of energy out of her."

"Oh, ok. I guess I can tell her tomorrow about the rest of the gang."

-----

"Drat it all. How am I supposed to find the chosen one?"

The old man muttered to himself as he looked around his room. Books, mirrors, and a whole odd assortment of things were scattered all over the place. He looked into the glass globe in front of him.

"Damned thing never works," he mumbled as he banged on the top of it a few times. Soon instead of the normal fog an image soon came to the fore. The image was of a tall blonde haired man with a large sword strapped on his back and a young woman dressed in pink walking along, it was a little blurry though.

"Oh my, so this is all I had to do," he banged on the globe a little more. The image became more blurry as it moved closer to the pair. He leaned close to the image, his nose almost touching the glass, eyes squinted to see the picture better. He gasped as he realized who the image was of.

"Well I never…"

AN: Another chapter that didn't change a lot. The end.


	9. Plans and Actions

AN: Wow, guess what here is chapter 9. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or anything to do with it.

* * *

Cloud had called Barret to pass on the news and also to tell him to have Reeve meet all of them at Tifa's bar. If Reeve didn't have room in his schedule to see them, then he had better make the room. After getting off the phone with Barret he called all the others to pass on the same info. Aeris was on the porch only just waking up since she had first passed out upstairs. He moved over her way before she could completely wake up and held her up so that she wouldn't throw up on herself. As her eyes fluttered completely open it was a good thing that he had moved her. She began to throw up and he held her hair back as she did so in the bushes. He had felt like throwing up from the sight of what was done to her mother himself and only the training he had received while trying out for Soldier had enabled him to keep his stomach down. After she had finished and while she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, Cloud ran a hand through his hair, and tugged Aeris up. They had to get back to the bar and start to find out what the heck was going on. With what happened to Elmyra they needed to find out what was going on and who was causing it. Whoever killed Elmyra was going to pay for it.

"Aeris, I know right now you don't want to, but come on, we have to go. We are going back to Tifa's bar and I promise you we will find whoever did that and make them pay for it."

"Ok…" she hiccupped as she tried to hold back a sob and let him lead her away from her home. Cloud set a bristling pace back to the bar, forcing her almost to run to keep up with him. The neighborhood passed by quickly as they rushed back to the bar. The image of her mother kept running through her mind and she wanted to just break down and cry until there was nothing left. Is this what her mother and Cloud had to go through when she was killed? She didn't think she could take this, this pain it hurt too much. Why was Cloud rushing her so? Didn't he realize she just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry her eyes out?

"I know you want to grieve Aeris and you will be able to, just stay with me a little longer."

The barely suppressed rage in his voice and the sight of the bar gave her a little bit more strength to keep up with him. He quickly unlocked the door and led her in, as soon as she stepped in he pulled her against him and he felt her legs give way. She began to cry in great big racking sobs the only reason she remained standing was because Cloud was holding her up. As she cried he picked her up and began to carry her upstairs to the room she was staying in. The entire way murmuring something to her, all she could hear was his voice whispering in her ears as she cried out her grief over her mother. He laid her gently down on the bed and continued holding her as she cried. He didn't know how long they stayed that way maybe for an hour or so he guessed as he looked at the clock on the bed stand. They had maybe another two hours or so before the rest of the group should be meeting up at the bar. Aeris had finally stopped crying and she had curled up with a pillow on the bed.

Cloud stood up to leave he figured Aeris had cried herself to sleep.

"Please, don't leave me."

He turned back to the bed, her eyes were all puffy from crying, but snotty nose and puffy eyes didn't detract from her beauty. Cloud walked back to the bed and pulled her into a hug and begins to rub her back again. She leans deeper into him and angles her head up towards his face. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see and feel her arms tighten around him and she pulls his face down to hers. She presses her lips against his and he could feel her tongue lick his lips before he opens his mouth to kiss her back. She kisses and sucks at his mouth with a desperation and rising urgency, her hands roam all over his body and she tugs at his shirt before she slides her hands underneath it. Nails press into his back and drag down his back, he growls deep in his throat and runs his hands down her sides massaging and caressing her body. Aeris moans against his mouth at the feel of his hands and pulls him down on top of her, trying to pull him closer. Cloud moves his lips from her mouth and kisses his way down her collar bone kissing and suckling at her throat. She moans again louder, her dress was getting hiked higher and higher up her legs. Aeris reaches out and begins to unbuckle his pants, warning bells ring in his head. Out of the hazy mess that was going on in his head, he realizes what was happening and how wrong it was and jerks away. He was half-way out the door before she had even realized that he was gone.

"Wait! Why are you leaving?"

"I refuse to take advantage of you like this."

"But…I want this."

"Not like this, I'm hopping in the shower. Rest easy."

With those last words he shuts the door behind him; he could hear her begin to cry again. He leaned his forehead against the door, sighs and walks back to his room. He had to take a cold shower his body felt like it was on fire and he had to calm down. He still couldn't believe what almost happened between him and Aeris, it felt too rushed and that isn't what he wanted to happen. The cold water running down his body was enough to help clear his head and start to quench the fire raging inside him. Shivers ran through his frame as his body adjusted to the cold water. He still couldn't believe what almost happened, slim cool fingers brushing against his skin pulling at his belt buckle, nails drawing lines of fire down his back, he took another deep breath and turned the water even colder. Should he have left? No use second guessing what he did.

-----

Yuffie and Red XIII were the first to show up at the bar, with the rest showing up a little bit after them. The look on his face was enough that no one bothered asking him any questions about why he called them all together so soon after he had bid them farewell. Barret made as if to come over and talk but the glare Cloud shot his way stopped him in his tracks and silenced him. Everyone but Reeve had shown up and Cloud was about five minutes away from storming off and attacking Shinra to retrieve the missing member of the group.

"Where is he?"

"He said he would be here, Spike."

"He's late."

"I'm sure he is on his way here now. Just give him a few more minutes and I'll give him a ring."

Cloud shoved himself away from the wall he had been brooding up against since before they had all arrived and threw himself at Barret. His grabbed a fistful of Barret's shirt and slammed him against the wall. Everyone froze, what happened was so against what normally they expected from the blonde-haired man that no one knew how to react.

"I thought I told you to make sure he was here," he whispered harshly to the black man.

"And I am here, have a little patience Cloud. I had some things that had to be taken care of."

Reeve's voice comes through the doorway. He stares at the tableau in front of him, Cloud holding Barret up against the wall, the rest of the team scattered throughout the room still in shock. His eyes take in everyone in the room, no sign of Aeris either. _Well I guess only thing to do is find out what made Cloud snap and to see Aeris._ He walks over to Cloud and Barret, calmly pulls his arm back and punches Cloud in the face. Barret's feet drop the couple of inches to hit the floor and, Cloud straightens and wipes the blood away from his mouth. Reeve rubs his knuckles and shakes his hand a few times before stepping back. If Cloud attacking Barret had everyone in a state of shock, then Reeve decking Cloud had everyone lost and confused.

"Good, I have your attention. Whatever the problem is, it's not enough for you to attack and threaten your friends no matter what, Cloud."

"…"

"Damn, fucking Spikey-headed ass, what the hell I do to you!!?"

"…"

"…I'm sorry. It's just….been a bad day."

"Whatever."

Barret shook his head and stormed over to the bar, careful to step carefully around Cloud and Reeve.

"So Cloud, you called us all here. What did you want?"

Cloud glares at Reeve for breaking the silence again, one hand rubbing his chin.

"Today Aeris and I went to visit her mom. When we got there the house was all locked up and we found Elmyra upstairs. Someone killed her."

Yuffie gasps and claps a hand over her mouth. Cid's cigarette falls out of his mouth as he gapes at Cloud, Red XIII's tail thrashes on the floor, but otherwise he doesn't move. Barret pales and sits down with a thump; only Reeve shows no sign of shock.

"Where is Aeris?"

"Upstairs, hopefully resting."

"How is she doing?"

"She just found her mother dead, how do you think?"

"What, how…how did it happen?" Barret's eyes lock onto Cloud as he tries to find out what happened. He may not have known Elmyra well, but Marlene was fond of the woman and enjoyed going to visit her. That he would have to inform his little girl that the woman was dead was hard on him and he could only imagine how Aeris was holding up. Cloud looks away from his face and stares at the ground for a moment before responding.

"I don't know. She was murdered and it wasn't….it wasn't a pretty sight."

"I'll have someone go and take care of it," Reeve stated. He sighed as he grabbed one of the surrounding chairs and took a seat. He ran a ran through his hair as he debated how much he should tell all of them, Cait Sith had contacted him only the previous night and updated him of their arrival at Cosmo Canyon a couple of days ago. He stared at the entire group, with what happened to Elmyra things were quickly taking a turn for the worse. It was clearly obvious that a new enemy was out there and so far they had almost no information on this new foe. Aeris was definitely involved in all of it and she was probably a catalyst in all of it too, but whether or not she knew was an entirely different matter. He needed more information about what was going on and so far, Tifa and Cait Sith were his best leads. If he were to inform the group of their location then it was a good possibility that they would lose their lead. Decision made, he decided not to mention their whereabouts and to not even mention that they had discovered a tribe of Gi.

"We have a new enemy. I don't know who it is, who they are, or what they are trying to achieve."

Silence met his words. Cloud just stared at him; he had already known that a new enemy was out there. What happened to Elmyra told him that it had to do with Aeris and he wasn't going to let anything hurt her. She had already been killed once when he was supposed to be her protector, this time he wasn't going to let anything happen to her, not without dying himself.

"Also in case any of you are wondering, Tifa is alive and getting better. Cait Sith let me know last night."

Cloud, felt something inside of him relax, something that he hadn't even realized had been tense upon Reeve's words that Tifa was alright.

"Tifa is still gravely injured, but she is healing up and Cait Sith is still fixing himself, but they are alive."

"Where are they?" Barret puts in.

"I don't know, for some reason Cait Sith was very reluctant to answer when I questioned them on where they were staying at."

"What you mean that he was reluctant to answer, he's you ain't he?"

"No he is not me Barret. Not anymore at least, I gave him A.I. a little while ago. Yes I can still tap into his sensors and see what he see, but I cannot command him to tell me something. Also his sensors for viewing are still damaged so I can only go off of what he tells me."

"Damn it! To the hell with you and your freaky machines!"

Reeve just watched as the black man let loose a string of expletives, Cloud looked to have relaxed a little bit from what he could see from his side of the room, Yuffie was wearing a big grin, and even Cid looked a little calmer. At least with Tifa being alive that was one less thing to worry about. The main issue was at this time Aeris and Elmyra, Reeve stares at the ceiling as he thinks over all the issues with that. He desperately wanted to see the pig-tailed woman but with what happened with her mother he wasn't too sure on his reception from her. If he could only keep all of them away from Tifa, Cait Sith, and, he glanced at Red XIII for a moment, Kotara then maybe they would be able to track down the information they needed. _Now how do I keep them distracted long enough?_

The sound of footsteps coming down the steps alerted everyone to Aeris joining them. Reeve took in her figure as she walked down the last couple of steps she still wore that pink dress that he saw her in the first time he met her. Her hair was out of its normal pig tail and framed her face; although her eyes were still glossy from shed tears otherwise she looked well. He wasn't the only one taking her looks in as though memorizing them he looked over at the Cloud. The look on his face made him feel horrible for Tifa who was out there with nothing but a toy doll as her only companion because of Aeris. The look on Cloud's face was of a man who was in love, or as close to it as possible. He silently hoped the warrior woman well and prayed that things would turn out right for her and that she could have whatever she wished for. Although looking at how Cloud was handling Aeris like she was made of glass as he helped the Cetra woman take a seat he wasn't too sure of that himself. Something inside of him was hurting at seeing the look in Aeris's eyes she was looking at Cloud like he was her life-line. _I'm sorry, Tifa._

"Aeris, how are you doing," he spoke gently so as not to startle the woman and even then she still jumped at the sound of his voice breaking the silence. Cloud shot a glare at him from underneath his bangs and moved closer to Aeris. She leaned against Cloud grateful for his presence.

"I've been better Reeve, thank you though."

"We will find out what happened Aeris, I promise you this."

"Thank you again. Also what you did with the church…"

"It's the least I could do."

"Thank you either way."

It was silent again. There seemed to be quite a few of those pauses in the conversation, the normal banter that usually went on between all of them was sadly missing. Normally Tifa would be chatting to Yuffie or talking to Barret, occasionally even trying to pull Cloud out of his shell of silence, without her there and with what happened to Elmyra hanging in the air the atmosphere was less than cordial.

Cloud stepped away from Aeris, but didn't move far away from her.

"We need to find out who killed Elmyra."

The small sob that burst from Aeris at the mention of her mother had him instantly moving back to her side to hold her. Her muffled cries against him tore at Reeve's heart. Cloud stared at them all resolutely over Aeris's head as he began to explain his plan and what each of their parts in it was.

-----

Reeve stared thoughtfully at the bar; the plan was a good one, now he had to make some arrangements for someone to look after the company for a while. He was going to be traveling and he wanted everything in order before he took off. What was going on between Aeris and Cloud was interesting, he hadn't realized that they were that close. Although given all the issues Cloud had when Aeris was killed he wasn't that surprised at their closeness. Smirking he thought about his own plan, unfortunately it just didn't quite match what Cloud had in mind. First of all he was going to be leaving Midgar and catching up with Tifa and Cait Sith he only had a couple of days to meet up with them, from there he didn't know where they were going. Reeve looked out at the city as they drove it was slowly getting fixed up from the damage that it had taken in the battle with the Diamond Weapon and then Meteor. He only hoped that it wouldn't need to be fixed up again; hopefully things wouldn't reach that point.

As they pulled up to the main Shinra building, he noticed Rude waiting out on the steps for him. He nodded to the man as he stepped out of the limo and the man joined him as they began to walk up the steps. The bald man didn't say anything just held open the door for him and continued to walk with him to his office. Inside the office Elena and Reno sat in chairs but stood up upon his arrival into the room. Reeve gazed at the three Turks as they stood by waiting for orders, Elena stood her hand resting on her hips waiting, Reno toyed with his hair and Rude stood patiently.

"Ok, all you we have a slight change of orders, any problem with that?"

"You're the one paying."

Reeve sent an annoyed look at Elena then continued.

"Take a seat this could take a bit," he gestured to the chairs at his desk. "First of all, I will be taking a trip, and Reno you will be coming along with me."

Reno bit off a curse as Reeve continued.

"Elena for the moment you will be in control of the company. Make sure that the rebuilding of Midgar continues, also I want an eye kept on Cloud and his group as they head out. Rude that will be your primary task, while Elena you primarily will be in charge of the company. Check with Vincent and Marina in a couple of days if you don't hear from them by then. If you have any questions you know how to contact me, you two are dismissed."

Casting a quick look at Reno, Elena saluted and took off, Rude followed behind her. That left Reno and Reeve in the office and Reeve stared as Reno fidgeted in the chair he was currently seated in. Reeve was still trying to decide if he had made the correct decision in taking Reno with him instead of Rude, although he knew the red-haired man probably wouldn't have been able to remain discreet in tailing Cloud and party. _Only time will tell, I suppose._ Reno would just have to do, Elena was obviously the best choice for keeping an eye out on the company and for keeping up with all of them, while Rude would be able to be discreet with his tracking Cloud and still keep all of them informed.

"Reno you and I will be joining Tifa at Cosmo Canyon," Reeve idly wondered if Reno knew his cigarette had gone out, the red-head kept puffing on it, so he figured it didn't matter. "No one is to know about us going to them, is that understood?"

He waited for the red-head to nod before continuing.

"We will be taking off in a couple of hours so I suggest you start packing whatever you need, although pack light, we are going to be moving quick. Otherwise you are dismissed, be ready in two hours to leave."

Reno left the office grumbling under his breath. Reeve sighed and looked around his office, alone at last. He reached into desk and pulled out a key. With key in hand he walked to the safe against the wall and unlocked it. Inside of the safe rested a rapier and an ivory handled gun, he pulled both out of the safe. It had been a long time since he had used either, but they felt right in his hands. He made an experimental slash with the rapier and smiled to himself, sheathing the sword and putting the pistol in his holster he closed the safe and began to pack for the journey.

Two hours later, found Reeve giving last minute orders to Elena and tightening straps on his pack. Elena, Reno, and Reeve were waiting at the helo pad for the helicopter that would take them to Cosmo Canyon. Rude had already taken off to begin tailing Cloud. Reeve looked at Elena, he couldn't think of anything else to tell her, she already knew how to run the company so he was set. Hearing the loud whopping noise from the rotors of the helicopter he covered his eyes as the helicopter began to land and throw up all the dust in the area. Elena stepped back to the edge of the helo pad. Reno slung his pack over his should and went over to get in the helo. Reeve went through his mental checklist one last time, _all set._ He stepped aboard the helo, strapped himself and looked down as the ground slowly became farther away. Reeve cast a quick glance at Reno who was clutching the chest straps of his seat and had his eyes closed, casting one last look at Midgar he was ready.

* * *

**AN:** Ok to clear up confusion (if there is any) Cait Sith when I talk about him in my story is the little black cat on top of the moogle. He is the AI, hence why he can do stuff without Reeve controlling him. Reeve when he talks to Cait Sith is doing it through the moogle and vice versa. Reeve can hook up to Cait Sith and talk through him as well, but most of the time he doesn't as Cait Sith was programmed by Reeve and can catch everything that Reeve needs to know. Hope that doesn't make you all more confused.


End file.
